After being the talk of spring, Mossi Johnson has had a relatively quiet fall camp. The freshman was a revelation in the team’s April training session, excelling at inside reciever.
However, after sustaining a shoulder injury on the first day of the team’s 12-day stay in San Bernadino, Johnson has had difficulty in picking up where he left off four months ago. He was limited throughout much of the past two weeks, donning a red no-contact jersey for the majority of practices.
Johnson missed all of last year after tearing multiple ligaments in his knee, forcing him to grayshirt. Another setback shortly before the season had the young receiver fearing the worst.
“When you get injured you get scared. When you can’t get up by yourself you get nervous. I was nervous till I got to the doctors office,” said Johnson. “I had to just get over it, I started moving my shoulder on my own, spent an hour in the shower just moving it. After that I was like, ‘you know what, it’s not that bad.’”
Though the initial diagnosis was an AC sprain and two weeks of no-contact, Johnson was back on the field the following day going through individual drills. He would be cleared for full contact before the team left San Bernadino on Saturday. To coach Jim Mora, Johnson’s quick turnaround exemplified the player he can be.
“Mossi is a great competitor, he’s tough as heck and he’s smart. He hated being hurt,” said Mora. “He’s got that mindset that he’s not going to let anything hold him back. He doesn’t make mistakes, he plays hard all the time. I like his toughness, I like his mindset, I like his focus. I think he’s going to be special.”
After such a spectacular spring, Mora might be right. Still, Johnson has a bit to go before returning to that level. While the range of motion is back, Johnson said that the shoulder isn’t as strong as it was prior to the injury. However, he considers the physical injury a secondary issue.
“Mental, I got to get my mental back, but other than that, it’s not holding me back,” Johnson said of the injury. “The same way I injured my knee, I just got to get back to mind-over-matter stuff. If I don’t mind, it don’t matter to me.”
Sweat the sweet stuff
Junior Ellis McCarthy also missed time during fall camp as the team worked to get the defensive lineman into better condition. Like Johnson, he has been a full participant since the team’s return to UCLA on Monday.
McCarthy said that he is currently at 330 pounds and would like to get down to 324, but added that he felt lighter and faster than in previous years.
McCarthy credited the lighter feet to a commitment to a better diet as he cut out greasy food to adapt to the faster tempo the Bruins want to run at.
Team captains announced
UCLA voted on team captains last Thursday. Quarterback Brett Hundley and center Jake Brendel, both redshirt juniors, were named the offensive captains. The defensive captains are two redshirt seniors – defensive end Owamagbe Odighizuwa and linebacker Eric Kendricks. The team chose redshirt sophomore fullback Taylor Lagace and redshirt senior linebacker Ryan Hofmeister as special teams captains.
Injury report
The Bruins had a number of players return to practice Tuesday, with UCLA’s offensive line seeing plenty of reinforcements. Redshirt freshman John Lopez, sophomore Scott Quessenberry and redshirt sophomore Carl Hulick all returned after missing time.
Center Jake Brendel continued to work on the side, but Mora said that the three-year starter would be ready for the team’s opening game against Virginia.