UCLA Football Spring Practice Report: April 13

A few more key contributors returned from injury in a low-energy session that ended with quite a few bangs.

In practice No. 8 out of 15, the Bruins seemed to be going through the motions at Wasserman Football Center.

At least, until the last few minutes.

UCLA football returned to the field for some more spring camp action Wednesday morning, now past the halfway mark of the offseason practice schedule. There was a lot more of the same old, same old, and not too much different in the early drills.

Both Murphy twins were practicing after each having injury scares over the past week, and receiver DJ Justice returned after a week off too. That was certainly good news for the Bruins, who had seen bodies drop at a near-constant pace in recent sessions.

But with a good number of players slowly working their way back on the field, there were bound to be some speed bumps. In 7-on-7s, coach Chip Kelly yelled at DJ Justice for seemingly improvising on his routes, and he got on young UCF transfer receiver Titus Mokiao-Atimalala for something else later on.

Second-string quarterback Ethan Garbers had a rep in 11-on-11s where he rolled out to his right and ran the ball for a few yards. Quarterbacks coach Ryan Gunderson came running out onto the field yelling at him for not throwing the ball to the flat, though, and he continued to berate the former Washington transfer by sending him off the field for Chase Griffin.

Garbers looked dejected on his walk back to the sideline, where he was dapped up and comforted by teammates before joining Kelly in the backfield for a more low key discussion on the goal line set.

There seemed to be fewer team sessions overall, with this being the sixth practice in a row with pads. There were not too many highlights in those early rotations of 7-on-7s, outside of quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson finding tight end Hudson Habermehl for two long touchdowns, linebacker Darius Muasau picking off Thompson-Robinson over the middle and quarterback Justyn Martin lofting a 50-yard touchdown to receiver Kam Brown.

With not a lot of big plays in either direction or up-close looks at intense action, it did feel like the energy was lower than normal out on the field.

That all changed in the final session of team drills, when the defensive sideline started to get loud and ultimately helped force a false start on 3rd-and-short to end the drive. The offense responded by forcing back-to-back offsides calls not too long after, and that side of the field tried to match the rowdiness of their opposition.

From there, cornerback Devin Kirkwood's ever-present trash talk only picked up. Mokiao-Atimalala and safety William Nimmo Jr. got tangled up on the sideline and shoved each other a bit. Defensive backs were taking swings at pass-catchers after the whistle, still trying to punch out the ball and force a fumble at the direction of strength coach Keith Belton.

Running back Brian Kowall had his helmet ripped off in the backfield. Griffin lofted a perfect ball 40 yards downfield to tight end David Priebe in the left slot, and once he trotted into the end zone, he got full-on tackled from behind by Kenny Churchwell III and cornerback Jaylin Davies.

Priebe jumped to his feet and yelled in celebration, and both sidelines were starting to get really rowdy.

Even with the physicality, it was certainly a breath of fresh air to cap off what would have otherwise been a run-of-the-mill, milquetoast midweek practice.

Also of note – Garbers did not see the field in team drills after getting chewed out by Gunderson, not settling in at quarterback in any of the six drives that made up that final energetic 11-on-11 session.

The injured players by the weight room were linebacker Ale Kaho, tight end Mike Martinez, receiver Ezavier Staples, offensive lineman Siale Taupaki, defensive lineman Gary Smith III, receiver Colson Yankoff, offensive lineman Yutaka Mahe, linebacker Jeremiah Trojan, center Sam Marrazzo, defensive lineman Sitiveni Havili-Kaufusi and defensive back Martell Irby. Linebacker Kobey Fitzgerald, running back Christian Grubb and edge rusher Laiatu Latu all took part in positional workouts, but did not appear in team sessions, and the same went for linebacker Kain Medrano.

With Kaho and Trojan hurt, Caleb Johnson in the transfer portal, JonJon Vaughns with UCLA baseball and Jalen Woods still at St. John Bosco (CA), the Bruins were still shorthanded at linebacker even with the improving injury luck. That meant the staff was able to work out Churchwell and edge rusher Choe Bryant-Strother with the inside linebackers early on in practice, experimenting amid the current lack of depth.

Bryant-Strother got time at linebacker during team sessions, while Churchwell moved from his traditional safety spot into a nickel/slot cornerback role when UCLA only had two linebackers on the field.

It remains to be seen if that position change for Churchwell is permanent or a temporary fix, but it could be interesting to keep an eye on for the rest of the offseason.

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