Just when we thought the challenge for CRN to rebuild our football program couldn’t get any harder, we get even more bad news from practice. Apparently both Cowan and Olson were injured in a span of 10 mins yesterday at Spaulding as both of them were carried off in a golf cart. Chris Foster from the LAT on how the two quarterbacks got injured:
Cowan was injured while scrambling during a pass play. Moments later, Olson was hurt while handing off on a running play.
A question for any practice watchers who were there yesterday (or has been to few this year): do these quarterbacks get hit during these practices? Because I though the black (or is it dark blue?) jerseys they are wearing means "no contact." It’s sad because from that account itself it sounds like at least Olson got hurt in a non-contact drill.Here is CRN on yesterday’s bad news:
"Ben said he just planted his foot and something popped," Neuheisel said. "We'll have to do X-rays and MRIs before we know the extent of that injury. Pat aggravated a knee, so we'll see."
Now, UCLA is faced with third-stringer Kevin Craft and fourth-stringer Chris Forcier getting most of the snaps at the spring game.
The length of the spring game, which begins at 7 p.m., will be determined after the severity of the injuries to Cowan and Olson, both fifth-year seniors, is known.
"You always try to look at the bright side," Neuheisel said. "If it were to be that (Cowan and Olson) could not play on Saturday, it would be an excellent opportunity to find out, under fire, (about) the other two kids, and to get them out there and see if we can develop somebody and get some confidence and so forth."
Fifth-stringer Osaar Rasshan, who rarely took a snap in practices lately, would be the third quarterback for the scrimmage.
Wrt to Cowan’s MRI, the LAT report indicates that the Cowan will have an MRI on his knee today. However, Trojan Alum Adam Rose posted on the LAT blog that Cowan’s MRI "came back negative." I have not seen any confirmation of that report anywhere else. But let’s hope Adam is right.Now, UCLA is faced with third-stringer Kevin Craft and fourth-stringer Chris Forcier getting most of the snaps at the spring game.
The length of the spring game, which begins at 7 p.m., will be determined after the severity of the injuries to Cowan and Olson, both fifth-year seniors, is known.
"You always try to look at the bright side," Neuheisel said. "If it were to be that (Cowan and Olson) could not play on Saturday, it would be an excellent opportunity to find out, under fire, (about) the other two kids, and to get them out there and see if we can develop somebody and get some confidence and so forth."
Fifth-stringer Osaar Rasshan, who rarely took a snap in practices lately, would be the third quarterback for the scrimmage.
Even if Cowan’s MRI comes out negative, CRN will still most likely to sit him (and Olson) out during Saturday’s scrimmage:
"You'd love for them to play – it's a new offense and it's the fourth quarterback coach. It's a lot of different things," Neuheisel said. "But if they're not physically able then certainly you have to err in the side of caution and make sure they're healthy for the fall."
Speaking of Saturday, more from the LAT on the scrimmage:
Saturday's scrimmage will start at 7 p.m., though Neuheisel said he and his staff have already made some personnel decisions.
"I think we got an idea where we're headed," Neuheisel said. "That doesn't mean that we know exactly what we're going to look like in the fall."
One of those decisions mean training Ekbatani at C to back up Reed (same link as above):
"I think we got an idea where we're headed," Neuheisel said. "That doesn't mean that we know exactly what we're going to look like in the fall."
While coaches felt the offensive line improved during spring, there remains a concern at center. So the plan is to train guard Nick Ekbatani at the position, where he could back up starter Micah Reed.
The Bruins have struggled with center snaps throughout training camp.
"They want me to be able to play center, guard and tackle," said Ekbatani, who will be a junior. "I just want to play."
Ekbatani played center on the scout team as a redshirt last season.
Whatever it takes to fix the issue with botched snaps this spring.The Bruins have struggled with center snaps throughout training camp.
"They want me to be able to play center, guard and tackle," said Ekbatani, who will be a junior. "I just want to play."
Ekbatani played center on the scout team as a redshirt last season.
Anyway, let’s hope BO and PC heal up soon. Meanwhile, this is a golden opportunity for both Craft and Forcier (and even Rasshan) to make a lasting impression heading into the Fall camp. Good luck to all of them.
GO BRUINS.
UPDATE: wrt to Cowan's MRI we received this email from Adam:
[T]he Cowan MRI in question was performed on Tuesday to address the Monday injury, there are no results yet on the "re-injury" that happened on Thursday. I think there was a mistake on my end with a copy/paste when I was editing, so it could have easily been misread. I just re-worded the parenthetical in my post.
This was also noted by azee in the comments. Thanks to Adam and azee for the clarification. Much appreciated. Let's hope the latest MRI on Cowan has the same results. GO BRUINS. -N