UCLA Football Spring Practice Report: April 30

The Bruins' final session of spring camp featured some energy, touchdowns, interceptions and a few flags.

And just like that, the Bruins are done with spring camp.

UCLA football held its final spring practice Saturday morning, one week after the public pseudo sendoff showcase at Drake Stadium. The 15th session of camp had a bit of a structure shakeup, with some 1-on-1 drills removed and others pushed to different periods, but it was still a lot more of the same to close things out.

After two hours of work, the team took a knee to hear from coach Chip Kelly and strength coach Keith Belton, then huddled up for one last farewell. Each position group had a quick check-in with their assistant coaches, and then it was all hugs, handshakes and photoshoots.

Saturday’s practice actually stood as an example of progression and improvement in several arenas, one of which being the health of the team. 

Safety Martell Irby made his first appearance of camp after missing the first few weeks entirely. Irby shared on Instagram that he was in a serious car accident just before practices began, but it is unknown if that was the cause of his absence. In addition to getting into pads and participating in individuals Saturday, Irby lined up with the 1s as the starting nickel back.

Injured tight end Carsen Ryan and linebacker Jeremiah Trojan also got back to position drills themselves, although they did not play in team sessions.

Linebacker Kain Medrano, center Sam Marrazzo, linebacker Ale Kaho, offensive lineman Siale Taupaki, receiver Kam Brown, running back Christian Grubb, receiver Ezavier Staples, offensive lineman Yutaka Mahe, linebacker Kobey Fitzgerald and defensive lineman all remained sidelined, but just eyeballing it, most of them should be back to work when fall camp starts in three months.

Looking back at the players who were able to take the field, receiver Logan Loya had a few nice grabs on the sideline after struggling with drops earlier in camp. Tight end Mike Martinez also made a twisting catch deep downfield on a pass from quarterback Ethan Garbers despite having limited fluidity and hands as recently as Tuesday.

Early enrollee quarterback Justyn Martin has also visibly shortened up his throwing motion, and it’s done wonders for him in terms of timing and accuracy. With only a handful of practice under his belt at the college level, he has plenty of room left to grow, but between his pure arm strength, deep ball ability and coachability, Martin has a bright future ahead beyond this spring.

Running backs Keegan Jones and TJ Harden finished the final two drives of the day with long runs and short touchdowns following weeks of getting bottled up at the line.

Oregon transfer cornerback Jaylin Davies may have dropped two interceptions during teams, but he was more disruptive down the field than he had been in any other practice. Cornerback Devin Kirkwood dropped an interception as well, so maybe the defensive backs need to work on their hands this offseason.

Safety Stephan Blaylock, meanwhile, was able to secure an interception off of quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson. The Bruins’ fifth-year signal-caller had a spotty day, overthrowing several targets and picking up a penalty for a forward pass past the line of scrimmage, but he made up for it with a few highlight plays.

Perhaps the top play of the day came packaged with another flag – Thompson-Robinson lofted an end zone fade to Duke transfer receiver Jake Bobo, who came down with it over cornerback John Humphrey.

Humphrey interfered with Bobo in the same spot just two plays earlier, but the referee did not call the penalty. So when Bobo hauled in the touchdown, he threw the ball 30 feet in the air and got mobbed by his teammates as the ref tossed a flag for excessive celebration.

That kind of energy was all over the field in the Bruins’ sendoff spring practice, and they’ll have to bottle up what they have left until the beginning of August.

The 2022 regular season kicks off September 3, when UCLA will take on Bowling Green at the Rose Bowl.

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