SAN BERNARDINO — UCLA completed its first week of fall training camp on Saturday. The Bruins had a total of seven practices during the first week, with the only fully padded practice occurring on Friday. The team had the day off on Sunday.
Here are the main storylines from each day of training camp so far.
Monday: No-shows are the story
Monday’s practice was laid back to say the least: The players were in shorts and didn’t even wear shoulder pads.
The most interesting part of the day was when coach Jim Mora discussed the players who were conspicuously absent from camp.
First, Mora noted that redshirt junior offensive tackle Simon Goines will miss the entirety of fall camp with an undisclosed medical condition. Goines did not play last season because of leg injuries, but he started a total of 20 games from 2012 through 2013.
Aside from Goines, freshman tight end Chris Clark – the No. 2 tight end recruit in the nation last year per 247Sports – was out because of mononucleosis. Clark didn’t end up playing at all in the first week of fall camp, but Mora said on Saturday that he has no intention to redshirt him.
Clark was not the only prized recruit missing from camp on Monday, as freshman Cordell Broadus – a consensus four-star recruit and the son of rapper Snoop Dogg – was excused because of “personal reasons,” Mora said. Broadus would end up quitting the team on Friday.
Tuesday: UCLA offensive line shores up holes
One of the developing narratives of fall camp has been how much praise the offensive line has received.
Last year, the offensive line was one of the main sources of concern, allowing 25 sacks through the first six games. But after coming together in the second half of last season – allowing only 15 sacks over the final seven games – the O-line is suddenly one of the main sources of optimism.
Mora is one of the O-line’s biggest endorsers. He said that the Bruin O-line this year is far better than any other he’s seen in his three-plus years at UCLA.
“There’s no comparison,” Mora said. “I don’t want to overstate it because I just don’t – I want them to prove it on Saturday afternoons. But it’s an impressive-looking group.”
It’s a group replete with experience. Three of the Bruins’ starting offensive linemen have at least 20 starts, and the starting left tackle – redshirt junior Conor McDermott – is 6-foot-9, 315 pounds, with seven starts under his belt.
The wealth of experience has allowed the linemen to become very comfortable playing with one another.
“I think this is the first time that I’ve been here that we’re all kind of gelling together,” said junior left tackle Caleb Benenoch.
Wednesday: Outside linebacker returns from torn ACL
Redshirt junior linebacker Kenny Orjioke spoke to members of the media Wednesday, assuring them that he’s completely healthy after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament late last September.
On the field, however, Orjioke looked a bit bothered by a protective brace on his right knee, bending down to readjust it after multiple plays.
“He has that brace, which is a pain in the butt for him. You see him pulling it up a lot,” Mora said. “(But) he’s going, he’s rolling … he’s not even on the injury report.”
Orjioke has a chance to compete for a starting outside linebacker spot this fall. He had that same chance in each of the past two fall training camps, but was beat out by then-freshman Myles Jack in 2013 and then-sophomore Deon Hollins in 2014.
Thursday: Nose tackle improves pass rush
Kenny Clark is one of the best nose tackles in the Pac-12, if not the best. The junior is ranked No. 3 out of 220 defensive tackle prospects by NFLDraftScout.com.
“Any great middle linebacker wants to have the kind of guy that Kenny is in front of him,” Mora said.
Clark plugs holes, holds double teams and pushes the pocket back with his 6-foot-3, 310-pound frame. But there’s been one thing missing in his career: a sack.
Fittingly, during media availability on Thursday, Clark said the first thing he worked on this offseason was understanding pass rush.
Through one week of training camp, his studies seem to have paid off.
“He’s really emphasized working on his pass rush, his hands,” said junior defensive end Eddie Vanderdoes. “I’ve seen a lot of improvement in that so far this fall camp.”
Friday: Pads, tempers come out for first time
Friday was by far the most interesting day of the week for the UCLA football team. Around 8:30 a.m., news broke that Broadus had quit the team. In the afternoon, the Bruins had their first fully padded practice of the fall.
That’s when things started to heat up.
During an 11-on-11 scrimmage, Jack got into a scuffle with McDermott, and punches were thrown soon after the play ended. McDermott lost his helmet, Jack lost his cool, and the two needed to be separated.
Jack ended up being kicked out of practice after he tried to reignite the fight with McDermott and the offensive linemen; McDermott remained in practice.
Jack’s ejection marked the second straight year in which the linebacker was kicked out of a fall camp practice.
Saturday: Quarterback question remains
UCLA’s biggest question heading into fall camp was: Who’s starting at quarterback?
Through the first week of training camp, the Bruins still have yet to find the answer. Redshirt juniors Mike Fafaul and Jerry Neuheisel, as well as freshman Josh Rosen, are all still in the running for the position.
“Right now, we still need to see more from all three of them,” said quarterbacks coach Taylor Mazzone.
The Bruins have less than three weeks to figure out their signal caller. The season starts on Sept. 5 at the Rose Bowl against Virginia.