UCLA Football Spring Practice Report: April 9
In 2021, the main theme and talking point of the Bruins' spring camp was just how deep they were.
The team is in a similar spot as some positions in 2022, but is far from that kind of depth at others one year later.
UCLA football hit the field at Wasserman Football Center for its sixth session of spring practice on Saturday morning. This was the first practice since starting linebacker Caleb Johnson announced he was entering the transfer portal, locking in how thin the Bruins are at that inside linebacker position.
Ale Kaho and Jeremiah Trojan remain injured, leaving Darius Muasau, Kain Medrano and Damian Sellers as the top remaining linebackers who are actively practicing. Getting an up-close look at the drills run by inside linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr., Adam Cohen stepped up in the drill and earned second team reps later on, while outside linebacker Choe Bryant-Strother rotated in as well.
The receiver room already lost Kyle Philips to the NFL Draft and Chase Cota and Keontez Lewis to the transfer portal earlier in the offseason, and they came into spring with Ezavier Staples and Colson Yankoff both hurt before DJ Justice joined them. Kam Brown got banged up Saturday too, spending team sessions on the stationary bike, and Josiah Norwood seemed to tweak his back before leaving the field with trainers and spending several periods working on his own.
Norwood returned, but UCF transfer Titus Mokiao-Atimalala had to stand in for Brown as the No. 1 outside receiver. There were a lot of passes to Kazmeir Allen in the slot and Keegan Jones out of the backfield during 7-on-7s and 11-on-11s with so many receivers missing.
Duke transfer Jake Bobo did have a touchdown, as did tight end Michael Ezeike, but the rest of the targets were focused mostly on the short routes to Allen and the backs. Allen at one point got four targets in a row, and after quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson hesitated in delivering him the ball at the front right corner of the end zone, Wyoming transfer cornerback jumped the route to pick it off.
Hearn picked off Thompson-Robinson in 1-on-1s as well, with the former Cowboy ripping a 50/50 ball away from Logan Loya in the end zone. Cornerback Devin Kirkwood broke out a 25-yard pass from Thompson-Robinson to Ezeike towards the end of practice, celebrating with the rest of the defensive backs as they ran off the field.
Running back Zach Charbonnet got plenty of snaps but was unable to break into space very often. Meanwhile, Jones had a few successful outside runs, a converted 4th-and-short and somewhere around six catches – touchdowns, sideline jump balls and diving grabs among them.
The run game itself was not very successful in team sessions overall, though. Edge rusher Devin Aupiu got a tackle for loss on Deshun Murrell with the 2s. Outside linebacker Carl Jones stuffed a quarterback run and a shotgun handoff on back-to-back plays, then immediately followed those up by sacking Thompson-Robinson.
Jones' activity may have gotten a bit out of hand at one point, as he sent Thompson-Robinson to the ground on another rep while the onlookers held their breath.
The Murphy twins also got back to their disruptive ways later on in practice, swatting down a pass in the backfield and blowing by the tackles from several different spots on the line. Gabriel Murphy went down with what looked like a right leg injury with 3.4 seconds left in the final period of the day, but it looked like it was just a cramp as he limped off the field and got his feet back under him a few moments later.
Defensive lineman Jay Toia looked like he was limping later on in practice too. The sophomore was a full participant in position drills but did not see the field in the last few team sessions.
Martell Irby, who had been missing completely from the first five practices, was finally spotted on the field wearing a bucket hat and no pads. He didn't appear to have any casts or braces on, and he didn't have a noticeable limp, so the reason for his absence remains undetermined.
The rest of the injured players had been to the side in prior practices as well – Yankoff, Staples, Trojan, Kaho, tight end Mike Martinez, offensive lineman Siale Taupaki, defensive lineman Sitiveni Havilit-Kaufusi, offensive lineman Yutaka Mahe, defensive lineman Gary Smith III. Edge rusher Joquarri Price also joined the group Saturday, and he appeared to have a cast on his right leg while he was holding crutches.
The usual special teams work from the early portion of practice was most of the same, although outside linebackers coach Ikaika Malloe continues to introduce new-look drills in his dual-role as special teams coordinator. Malloe ran his drill with Norton, while receivers coach Jerry Neuheisel and defensive backs coach Brian Norwood were paired up on another side of the field and tight ends coach Jeff Faris and running backs coach DeShaun Foster each ran their own drills.
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