Practice No. 2 of Saturday's two-a-day was far less eventful than the first one. With just shorts and spider pads, it was a glorified two-hour walkthrough. Nonetheless, here were the notes:
-DE Takkarist McKinley was not out on the field after leaving practice early this morning. We don't have any update on the severity of the injury, but there's been some speculation it may be a blow to the head. Everyone else was back out either working with Sal Alosi, or in Bolu Olorunfunmi's case, back with the team.
-Speaking of Olorunfunmi, he was probably my standout from the evening. While it was a three-quarter speed drill, he still took handoffs with authority and tried to hit the holes with power and speed. It's a huge contrast watching him run with the ball and watching Soso Jamabo finesse his way to the line of scrimmage. If Kennedy Polamalu could get the two to rub off on each other, that'd be ideal for the Bruins.
-Mike Fafaul didn't log a single rep tonight after chucking at least five interceptions this morning, so I think we may have officially seen the cut down to two here. Both Josh Rosen and Jerry Neuheisel looked fine running the short workout, with both recording highlight throws. Neuheisel hit Eldridge Massington on a pretty fade over Colin Samuel and then Rosen came right back and hit Jordan Payton on a pretty jump ball in the endzone over Denzel Fisher.
-One notable I saw tonight which I think is relevant after Mora's blowup this morning was watching Rosen pooch punt in Mora's 20-minute situational work. When asked to do the drill, Rosen didn't put a whole lot of effort into the disguised punt, nonchalantly booting the ball over his linemen. I think this is where Mora gets frustrated with the young QB. He's doing everything right in 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 work, but when the head coach needs him to set an example in drills that aren't fun or entertaining for anybody (like walthrough Hail Mary practice this morning or pooch punt practice tonight), he's just not being a leader. So I think until Rosen starts showing a little more leadership and maturity in those aspects of the game, we're still going to have this QB battle.
-Stephen Johnson popped in 11-on-11 work tonight. Rosen connected with him a few times, and he provided some jitterbug explosiveness we haven't seen from the F-back spot in a while.
-We got a look at Tom Bradley's nickel tonight, and it went as expected: DBs Fabian Moreau, Ishmael Adams, Marcus Rios, Jaleel Wadood and Randall Goforth. LBs: Myles Jack and Kenny Young. DL: Matt Dickerson (with Takk out), Eddie Vanderdoes, Kenny Clark and Deon Hollins.
-Some scheduling notes to clean up here: UCLA will practice again at 11:15 a.m. tomorrow, in what we're expecting to be at least a shorts and shells practice. It will then have an 8:30 a.m. practice Friday morning (which we're expecting to be a more walkthrough type), and then Friday at 5 p.m. it will have a scrimmage that sounds like it's going to be awesome. Saturday's fan appreciation practice has been moved up to 9 a.m., and the SIDs basically told us it will be closed to the media. No player or coach availability will be made, and the practice will be a walkthrough / fan experience. So that's kind of how we'll put a bow on San Bernardino this weekend.
-DE Takkarist McKinley was not out on the field after leaving practice early this morning. We don't have any update on the severity of the injury, but there's been some speculation it may be a blow to the head. Everyone else was back out either working with Sal Alosi, or in Bolu Olorunfunmi's case, back with the team.
-Speaking of Olorunfunmi, he was probably my standout from the evening. While it was a three-quarter speed drill, he still took handoffs with authority and tried to hit the holes with power and speed. It's a huge contrast watching him run with the ball and watching Soso Jamabo finesse his way to the line of scrimmage. If Kennedy Polamalu could get the two to rub off on each other, that'd be ideal for the Bruins.
-Mike Fafaul didn't log a single rep tonight after chucking at least five interceptions this morning, so I think we may have officially seen the cut down to two here. Both Josh Rosen and Jerry Neuheisel looked fine running the short workout, with both recording highlight throws. Neuheisel hit Eldridge Massington on a pretty fade over Colin Samuel and then Rosen came right back and hit Jordan Payton on a pretty jump ball in the endzone over Denzel Fisher.
-One notable I saw tonight which I think is relevant after Mora's blowup this morning was watching Rosen pooch punt in Mora's 20-minute situational work. When asked to do the drill, Rosen didn't put a whole lot of effort into the disguised punt, nonchalantly booting the ball over his linemen. I think this is where Mora gets frustrated with the young QB. He's doing everything right in 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 work, but when the head coach needs him to set an example in drills that aren't fun or entertaining for anybody (like walthrough Hail Mary practice this morning or pooch punt practice tonight), he's just not being a leader. So I think until Rosen starts showing a little more leadership and maturity in those aspects of the game, we're still going to have this QB battle.
-Stephen Johnson popped in 11-on-11 work tonight. Rosen connected with him a few times, and he provided some jitterbug explosiveness we haven't seen from the F-back spot in a while.
-We got a look at Tom Bradley's nickel tonight, and it went as expected: DBs Fabian Moreau, Ishmael Adams, Marcus Rios, Jaleel Wadood and Randall Goforth. LBs: Myles Jack and Kenny Young. DL: Matt Dickerson (with Takk out), Eddie Vanderdoes, Kenny Clark and Deon Hollins.
-Some scheduling notes to clean up here: UCLA will practice again at 11:15 a.m. tomorrow, in what we're expecting to be at least a shorts and shells practice. It will then have an 8:30 a.m. practice Friday morning (which we're expecting to be a more walkthrough type), and then Friday at 5 p.m. it will have a scrimmage that sounds like it's going to be awesome. Saturday's fan appreciation practice has been moved up to 9 a.m., and the SIDs basically told us it will be closed to the media. No player or coach availability will be made, and the practice will be a walkthrough / fan experience. So that's kind of how we'll put a bow on San Bernardino this weekend.
