2013 UCLA Football Fall Training Camp: Day 9 AM Notes, Vanderdoes In Action and a Trip to Bruin Woods

The Bruins are in the middle of their final full day of open practice right now - the final two-a-day session in San Bernardino before Saturday's combination practice/meet and greet before the team returns to Westwood and starts closed practices in preparation for the season opener against Nevada, now just 2 weeks away.

After missing much of San Berdoo camp due to a back injury - and being limited to individual drills the past couple of days - Eddie Vanderdoes was fully in action during this morning's practice. Maybe a little too in action, as Coach Mora pulled him off the field after his first snap for being too agressive.

...the freshman defensive end bull-rushed without pads on his first play Friday morning, his first significant taste of college football. After being scolded by Mora, he dialed the intensity back a little too much.

"As you guys noticed, he didn’t quite understand the tempo there," head coach Jim Mora said. "He got a little bit aggressive, so we sent him off for a couple of plays. He told me after practice he feels good.

Eddie talked with the media after practice, commenting about his back and how being forced to sit out while his teammates were on the field working affected him.

Jack Wang talked with Damien Thigpen about his knee and what his outlook for the season seems to be. Per the piece, there is no timetable for his return, though Mora believes that it will be before mid-season. Adding to the discussion of who our starting running back will be to start the season, Wang notes that Jordon James is now the leading candidate, thanks to his improved pass blocking.

In other practice news:

• Jeremy Castro has not received academic clearance to play this fall. He grayshirted last year, so could take this fall as a redshirt and work to get his academics in order and still have 4 years to play. But how much work he has to become eligible is not known, and legally nobody in the program or the university can give any insight.
• After practice on Thursday, Coach Mora took the team on a surprise evening trip to Bruin Woods, where the team had a couple of hours to hang out and meet some of the alumni up there on vacation.

The Bruins will be back on the practice field in just a couple of hours for the penultimate session of this year's San Bernardino trip. For anyone making the trip today, please share your thoughts in the open thread and tweet any pictures to @bruinnation.

GO BRUINS!