:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/36867802/20140105_jla_aw3_235.0.jpg)
This was a really tough practice for the players, coaches, and most of all Devin Lucien and his family. According to Coach Mora in his press conference (video provided by InsideSoCal's Clay Fowler), it looked like Devin came down after a catch and hit his head hard on the ground. In the interview, Coach Mora goes on to inform us that Devin was taken in an ambulance to the hospital where Dr. John Di Fiori was headed to meet him. Coach Mora described Dr. Di Fiori as "one of the finest physicians in America and has an amazing grasp of head injuries and so he couldn't be with a better person then Dr. DiFiori". According to Mora, Devin's mother had also been contacted and talked with. You can see the concern, that we all share, in Coach Mora as he speaks about this at one point in the interview saying, "when something like this happens, you question everything". But Mora continued to assure everyone that Devin is in the best possible hands. Fortunately, Coach Mora was right. Ryan Kartje, from the OC Register reported "Good news on Devin Lucien's injury: He's doing well and will be back in San Bernardino tonight." This is so good to hear!
Again, huge thanks to InsideSoCal for making this available to us.
Continuing with the interview, Coach Mora is also highly appreciative of the effort the team is giving, saying "that was an outstanding practice". He says the coaches are demanding a lot of the players but they "keep raising up" to the level that is expected. With the heat, the drilling, the workouts, Coach Mora was asked how you know how much to push.
It's one of the hardest parts of coaching. You know where you want to go, you know what it's going to take to get there, but you also have to have some empathy for the fact that they're tired, they're worn out, they've been giving us everything that they have, and so you have to find that balance.
In more positive news from Tuesday's camp, Ryan Kartje of the OC Register reported that Jake Brendel's knee injury was a "a pretty moderate MCL injury". According to Kartje, Brendel will sit out a week of practice, but is expected to play in the season opener against Virginia. This is really good to hear. Also, Freshman Kenny Young seems to still be turning heads:
In 1-v-1s, Kenny Young destroyed running backs. One time, he pummeled Manfro, then w/ another surge, pushed him hard to the ground
— Chris Kalra (@chriskalra) August 13, 2014
Also, InsideSoCal's Clay Fowler says Malcolm Bunche was "giddy" when he got the news that he would be starting at LT:
"It’s a tremendous honor playing the blind side for one of the most explosive quarterbacks in college football," Bunche said. "I just got to keep grinding, working hard on the position and protect my man Brett."
For a full recap of yesterday's practice you can check out IE Angel's great write-up and yesterday's practice thread, which, once again, has live updates supplied by Bruinette88 and Bruins#1. Ryan Kartje and Edward Lewis recap yesterday's practice in the video below and have a really interesting discussion reassessing 2-a-days and having camp in San Bernardino.
This week our own gbruin sat down with the ASU Devil's Den to talk some UCLA football. You can hear the podcast here, which according to gbruin, also "features some killer music from my good mate's band The Fallen State."
UCLA Football via #BruinRevolution, #GrindSeason. has a great video of week 1 highlights with music "Save Us" by Fractions. (HT Bruins#1 for spotting this.) Enjoy!
We also have the latest in "The Desert" series from the official site, this time featuring Owamagbe Odighizuwa, who loves to play mind games with opponents. There is some great footage of the lines going at each other in scrimmage and Owa gives us a view of learning from Coach McClure:
ESPN was also at camp on Monday with their "College football road trip", aka #BusBlitz, and released two videos of their visit. In one Danny Kanell challenges Brett Hundley to a qb garbage can challenge, and I think Brett did pretty well, but I'll let you decide. Brett also claims to be the best paddle boarding qb's in the country, I see qb challenge coming. In a second video, Coach Mora is interviewed (in a golf cart) about the high expectations facing UCLA this year and about fall camp, including why he kicked Myles Jack out of practice Monday morning. Tuesday, #BusBlitz spent the morning at UCLA's camp and then headed over to that other football program. I had the opportunity to watch it and was pleased to see that they spent a lot of time not talking about that other team, instead choosing to focus on the Bruins.
Kirk Herbstreit also talks with Brett Hundley on ESPN's Under Center about why he came back to UCLA this year. Hundley discusses how he is working on anticipating what defenses are going to do, drills he learned from Philip Rivers, and his desire to leave a legacy at UCLA both on and off the field.
Saturday will be the team's last day practicing in San Bernardino, and I would like to remind anyone who may be able to make that trip that the team will be holding a fan appreciation day during that final practice. Free food and team posters will be available as well as 2-for-1 ticket sales for the home opener v. Memphis, but the players are not expected to be available for autographs.
This is your open thread for the 9th day of UCLA Football fall practices. There are two practices scheduled for today: 8:30 am and 7:00 pm. For any spectators who get out to CSUSB, please share your observations and thoughts here, and feel free to write up any extended thoughts or observations later on as a fanpost. You can also tweet pictures to us at @BruinNation.
GO BRUINS!