UCLA Football Practice Report: August 31
The Bruins will get back on the practice field for some final walkthroughs Thursday and Friday, but Wednesday marked their final practice in front of the media before Saturday's game against the Falcons.
As a result, it was one of their last chances to get the early-season jitters out of their system.
UCLA football ran another standard practice Wednesday morning at Wasserman Football Center, starting things off with field goals on the south field before switching to the north field for kickoff work. The full-speed kickoff drill featured one big mistake that set coach Chip Kelly off and changed the mood on the field for the rest of the early period.
UCF transfer receiver Titus Mokiao-Atimalala, who is in line to be one of the Bruins' top-five receiving targets this fall, was returning a kick after running back Keegan Jones and receiver Kazmeir Allen had already gotten their reps in.
Mokiao-Atimalala made a cut up the middle, then got completely laid out with a crushing hit by an unknown scout team defender. None of the other returners had been tackled – let alone this hard – since the team was only working in shells for the day.
After staying on the ground for a few seconds, Mokiao-Atimala managed to get up and jog off the field. Kelly angrily yelled from the end zone, but it was difficult to make out exactly what he was saying.
Kelly spent a few minutes talking with defensive back Joshua Swift after the period ended, but it was unclear if that was related to the hit on Mokiao-Atimala or something else.
Mokiao-Atimalala hung out under the uprights with his helmet on for the rest of the period, still visible shaken up from the hit. The wideout was able to rejoin individual drills, so he could still be in good standing ahead of Saturday's game.
Besides that moment, not much else was out of the ordinary on Wednesday.
Inside linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr. continued to be energetic and loud with his unit in drills, and even joked with defensive backs coach Brian Norwood about taking up too much space on the field when the linebackers moved to the end zone.
John Humphrey was finally with the second-string defensive backs, as was anticipated and listed on the two-deep released Monday. Humphrey had been running with the 4s through a lot of fall camp, even though he had been heralded as one of the top-three corners on the roster.
There were no players visible in the weight room or injured area, and no one who was dealing with any short-term bumps or bruises. Linebacker Ale Kaho, offensive lineman Liam Douglass, linebacker Joquarri Price and receiver Ezavier Staples all remained out with their long-term injuries, but the injury report essentially stopped there.
Kelly confirmed before practice that freshmen tight ends Jack Pedersen and Carsen Ryan had moved to running back, as their new No. 20 and No. 28 jerseys would indicate. Despite them being listed on the roster as running backs, though, they still continued to work out with the tight ends and fill tight end roles on special teams Wednesday morning.
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