The past 24 hours have been full of news for Bruin fans. First Cordell Broadus quit the team. Then UCLA lands the No. 1 offensive center in the West, Toleafoa Auwae. As the news presses began to heat up, so did practice. Here were the notes from today's practice:
-Chris Clark continues to remain on the sideline with his jersey on but no pads or helmet. With Broadus gone, the list of players on the team not present stands at Craig Lee, Steven Manfro and Simon Goines.
-The starting offense remained the same today with Mike Fafaul taking all of the first team reps. As the coaches have stated before, giving all of the quarterbacks time with the first offense is their plan until they can determine who is their best option. However, on a day like today when Fafaul did nothing to separate himself from the rest of the quarterbacks, you have to start asking whether you're sacrificing Josh Rosen's practice time for the sake of looking at less qualified options in Fafaul and Jerry Neuheisel.
-Neuheisel and Rosen split time with the twos but eventually Neuheisel was relegated to sideline as Rosen began to shred the defense in 7-on-7. While he has had some up and down days this fall camp, this was the best I have seen him play. He was confident in his decision making, showed a strong and accurate arm, went through his progressions to the point where he ended up on his third read and had excellent footwork. Hopefully when the coaches break down that film later, they'll decide it's time to pull the trigger. And for those worried that he looks good without a rush in his face, when he did get in during 11-on-11, he showed impressive mobility in the pocket.
-To anyone who watched practice today, the receivers stole the show. Any potential sting felt by Broadus leaving the team was quickly assuaged by the play of the other wideouts today. Starting with Mossi Johnson who showed up almost a full hour before practice to work on the jugs machine alone. His route running, hands and toughness should make him a favorite target this season. He and Jordan Payton together on the field will bring a ton of swag to the receiving corps. Thomas Duarte just continues to make one-handed catches look routine, whether it's during individual drills or team, I believe he's just making it more challenging for himself on purpose. The star of practice today though was Darren Andrews, who looks like he is close to 195 pounds and is pulling away from almost all of the defensive backs. He caught everything near him and let the DBs know it. He had the play of the day with a nice slant for 10 yards and spun out of the would be tackle to score a 70-yard TD. He needs to be a big part of this offense. Jordan Lasley struggled catching the ball and today I saw him finally snap on a DB, something I had not seen him do all fall, which was impressive. It was only some jawing but today he showed frustration at being unable to come down with the ball.
-A scary moment for Bolu Olorunfunmi today. After taking a hand off and attempting to cut back he was gang tackled but didn't get up. Trainers came out and were looking at his right ankle. Fortunately for UCLA he was able to get back up and walk off with limited help from the trainers. So far this has been a healthy camp for most guys with only Ishmael Adams nursing an ankle that has kept him out for two days. He is expected to return tomorrow.
-The starters on defense have been the same since day one but with Ish out both Nathan Meadors and Tahaan Goodman have been getting some run with the ones. Meadors in particular has been very impressive while Goodman continues to flash but is not consistent enough. Rick Wade continues to see more and more time with the twos. In one-on-one drills versus the offensive line, he rarely wins quickly but when he is playing with his unit, he always seems to find his way into the backfield.
-Big news of the day was with about 30 minutes remaining in practice, Myles Jack and Conor McDermott got into a pretty intense fight. Conor threw his helmet off and exchanged blows with Jack. Even after they were separated they were jawing. McDermott seemed to let it go and move on but Jack could not and had to be physically restrained by linebackers coach Scott White. Even after a good three minutes, and from about 40 yards away, I could still hear Jack audibly fuming. Mora decided to give the team a breather in the shade for about five minutes but that still wasn't enough for Jack, who found his way over to the offensive line huddle and tried to continue his fight. By this time Mora had enough and tossed Jack from practice and he again had to be physically restrained by White. Interestingly enough when Jack was out, Jayon Brown and Cameron Griffin were the other linebackers on the field with Kenny Young, not Isaako Savaiinaea.
-Other interesting notes of the day: Both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Detroit Lions were present at practice today with the Steeler representative having a front row seat to the Jack episode. Tevita Halalilo became the first heat casualty but stayed out on the sideline as he hydrated.
UCLA will resume practice tomorrow with the first practice at 8:30 a.m. and the second scheduled for 5:45 p.m.
-Chris Clark continues to remain on the sideline with his jersey on but no pads or helmet. With Broadus gone, the list of players on the team not present stands at Craig Lee, Steven Manfro and Simon Goines.
-The starting offense remained the same today with Mike Fafaul taking all of the first team reps. As the coaches have stated before, giving all of the quarterbacks time with the first offense is their plan until they can determine who is their best option. However, on a day like today when Fafaul did nothing to separate himself from the rest of the quarterbacks, you have to start asking whether you're sacrificing Josh Rosen's practice time for the sake of looking at less qualified options in Fafaul and Jerry Neuheisel.
-Neuheisel and Rosen split time with the twos but eventually Neuheisel was relegated to sideline as Rosen began to shred the defense in 7-on-7. While he has had some up and down days this fall camp, this was the best I have seen him play. He was confident in his decision making, showed a strong and accurate arm, went through his progressions to the point where he ended up on his third read and had excellent footwork. Hopefully when the coaches break down that film later, they'll decide it's time to pull the trigger. And for those worried that he looks good without a rush in his face, when he did get in during 11-on-11, he showed impressive mobility in the pocket.
-To anyone who watched practice today, the receivers stole the show. Any potential sting felt by Broadus leaving the team was quickly assuaged by the play of the other wideouts today. Starting with Mossi Johnson who showed up almost a full hour before practice to work on the jugs machine alone. His route running, hands and toughness should make him a favorite target this season. He and Jordan Payton together on the field will bring a ton of swag to the receiving corps. Thomas Duarte just continues to make one-handed catches look routine, whether it's during individual drills or team, I believe he's just making it more challenging for himself on purpose. The star of practice today though was Darren Andrews, who looks like he is close to 195 pounds and is pulling away from almost all of the defensive backs. He caught everything near him and let the DBs know it. He had the play of the day with a nice slant for 10 yards and spun out of the would be tackle to score a 70-yard TD. He needs to be a big part of this offense. Jordan Lasley struggled catching the ball and today I saw him finally snap on a DB, something I had not seen him do all fall, which was impressive. It was only some jawing but today he showed frustration at being unable to come down with the ball.
-A scary moment for Bolu Olorunfunmi today. After taking a hand off and attempting to cut back he was gang tackled but didn't get up. Trainers came out and were looking at his right ankle. Fortunately for UCLA he was able to get back up and walk off with limited help from the trainers. So far this has been a healthy camp for most guys with only Ishmael Adams nursing an ankle that has kept him out for two days. He is expected to return tomorrow.
-The starters on defense have been the same since day one but with Ish out both Nathan Meadors and Tahaan Goodman have been getting some run with the ones. Meadors in particular has been very impressive while Goodman continues to flash but is not consistent enough. Rick Wade continues to see more and more time with the twos. In one-on-one drills versus the offensive line, he rarely wins quickly but when he is playing with his unit, he always seems to find his way into the backfield.
-Big news of the day was with about 30 minutes remaining in practice, Myles Jack and Conor McDermott got into a pretty intense fight. Conor threw his helmet off and exchanged blows with Jack. Even after they were separated they were jawing. McDermott seemed to let it go and move on but Jack could not and had to be physically restrained by linebackers coach Scott White. Even after a good three minutes, and from about 40 yards away, I could still hear Jack audibly fuming. Mora decided to give the team a breather in the shade for about five minutes but that still wasn't enough for Jack, who found his way over to the offensive line huddle and tried to continue his fight. By this time Mora had enough and tossed Jack from practice and he again had to be physically restrained by White. Interestingly enough when Jack was out, Jayon Brown and Cameron Griffin were the other linebackers on the field with Kenny Young, not Isaako Savaiinaea.
-Other interesting notes of the day: Both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Detroit Lions were present at practice today with the Steeler representative having a front row seat to the Jack episode. Tevita Halalilo became the first heat casualty but stayed out on the sideline as he hydrated.
UCLA will resume practice tomorrow with the first practice at 8:30 a.m. and the second scheduled for 5:45 p.m.
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