Injuries have hurt the UCLA football team throughout fall practice, and the trend continued Saturday as the team lost its second starting lineman in as many weeks of practice.
At the annual fall scrimmage, starting redshirt junior center Kai Maiava fractured his left ankle. He will require surgery.
“I’m disappointed, obviously, about the injury to Kai. … He’s kind of a leader and one of our best front guys so that’s a blow,” coach Rick Neuheisel said.
“I don’t know what the recovery time will be, but that’s unfortunate, obviously, for our football team and we wish Kai would get back as fast as he can. Ryan (Taylor) and Greg Capella as backups have got to rise up and get it done.”
On Aug. 10, the second day of practice, starting junior defensive end Datone Jones was lost to a broken right foot.
When asked how to avoid injuries in a scrimmage, Neuheisel replied, “It was the third play. It’s not like we went too long. It was just football and that’s part of the game.”
Offensive coordinator Norm Chow indicated that redshirt senior guard Ryan Taylor would move back to center after playing at guard this fall.
“Kai’s our captain of the offensive line,” Taylor said after the scrimmage. “He’s going to be missed because he’s a great player and one of my good friends. I hope he has a good recovery and I hope the best for him.”
Taylor played center during spring practice while Maiava was nursing a knee injury.
“Kevin Prince and I had a very good relationship during the spring and summer and I don’t feel like it’s going to be that big of a change. I feel like we’ll just keep rolling and we’ll be fine,” Taylor said.