UCLA Football Practice Report: August 18

A rainy day in West LA gave the Bruins a chance to add some new experience to their tool box heading into 2021

(Photo Credit Jared Tay/All Bruins)

This post was updated at 2:59 p.m. on Aug. 19

One of the few situations the Bruins hadn't been able to prepare for throughout the first few weeks of fall camp was inclement weather.

Considering UCLA football is going to be playing at Washington on Oct. 16, it may need some of that experience heading into the season. Wednesday's session gave them a chance to pick some up, with on-and-off rain throughout the beginning of the Bruins' gray and gloomy practice.

Coach Chip Kelly told the media the usual bright and sunny weather of Southern California is, more often than not, a great thing, but that the conditions Wednesday were good to get under their belt regardless.

"That’s one of the beauties of being in Southern California," Kelly said. "It’s good that our guys get a chance to get into this environment a little bit because we may have to play in some inclement weather if we’re playing on the road, so we’ll get some good quality work in it today."

Once the wetter-than-normal practice got underway, it was a lot of the same for UCLA, which now has one more session of fall camp before game preparations start for the season opener against Hawai'i.

Safety Qwuantrezz Knight, receiver Kazmeir Allen, running back Keegan Jones and running back Brittain Brown returned kicks, with receiver Kyle Philips and running back Zach Charbonnet back in the end zone as well. It's the group we've seen for most of camp, but it didn't include running back Deshun Murrell, defensive back Isaiah Newcombe and receiver Ezavier Staples like it did Monday.

Allen, who looks as fast as ever, got stopped kind of short on his return, given how often guys are breaking off big plays on these walkthroughs. Brown will most likely not get a lot of special teams touches once the season rolls around, but he is looking much better than expected in a kick return role for someone who is known as a physical, north-south runner.

There wasn't a great view of the offense Wednesday, but we got some insight from Kelly on how things have been going with the offensive line as of late. Center Sam Marrazzo is still easing back into contact drills, leaving right guard Jon Gaines as the No. 1 center, which we had seen over the past few practices. Guard Atonio Mafi has gotten some time at right guard in his place, as well as when last year's starting right guard Duke Clemens moves over to right tackle.

Overall, it seems to be a very dynamic offensive line group, or at least the right side of it does. Sean Rhyan and Paul Grattan are locked in at left tackle and left guard, respectively, but Kelly sounded confident in any combination of Gaines, Mafi, Clemens, Alec Anderson and Bruno Fina playing wherever necessary on the other side.

The linebackers and defensive backs practiced some coverage schemes on the north field, giving the media a better look at the depth chart at this time in camp. Linebackers Kain Medrano looked like he was playing multiple positions in the middle, and cornerback Devin Kirkwood continued to get No. 1 reps as a true freshman.

It was also interesting to see safety Elisha Guidry lose some playing time, mostly resorting to being a dummy offensive player in walkthroughs. He got some time with the 3s, but that's quite the drop from when he was getting some near-starter playing time in key games in 2020.

Guidry spent some time talking to defensive coordinator Jerry Azzinaro after the drill, and while we couldn't make out what they were saying, it seemed like a solid technical conversation that made Guidry look ready and willing to learn and earn back his spot from last season.

UCLA's final fall camp session will be Friday morning. Kelly won't speak to the media again until Saturday, and the Bruins will have the day off Sunday.

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