Spaulding Roundup: Anthony Barr Injured in Practice, Kendricks Recovering

The Bruins just finished up their last open practice before next Saturday's season opener against Nevada @ the Rose Bowl, but not in a positive way:

Linebacker Anthony Barr left midway through UCLA’s Tuesday night practice with what appeared to be a head injury.

After a collision during 11-on-11 drills, the All-American walked to the sideline and removed his helmet as trainers tended to him. Barr lay on the ground and rubbed his temples before later vomiting onto Spaulding Field.

While Rich Rodriguez would have likely told Anthony to get his helmet on and get back on the damn practice field, the Bruin staff took this seriously - as they have whenever there is suspicion of a head injury. There has been no word yet on the extent of Barr's injury, but the immediate symptoms do sound consistent with a concussion.

The prospect of losing Barr for any period of time is a blow, though at least the timing should not place exceptional pressure on Anthony to rush back (if he did in fact suffer a concussion) nor tempt the coaches to push him to do so. Nevada is a decent team, but his presence in the front-7 should not be a critical key to winning that game. With the bye week scheduled afterward, there are 24 days until he really should be needed in Lincoln. But regardless of the timing of our schedule and who the upcoming opponents are, the main thing is that Anthony does not put his pads and helmet back on until he has fully recovered and is clear to retake the field.

At least there is some good injury-related news for the Bruin linebacking corps today. Eric Kendricks was able to fully participate in practice this morning for the first time this summer. Chris Foster's treatment focused on the secretive nature of his injury and recovery, while Jack Wang reported on Eric's (and Coach Mora's) satisfaction in getting back on the field.

"It feels great to be back," Kendricks said. "To be honest with you, I’ve just been taking it easy. I’ve been in the training room. I got a lot of treatment in San Bernardino."

... "It was just a little bit nagging," he said. "It was annoying. It just wasn’t normal. I know how my body feels when it’s normal, and it was just a little bit off."

Both Jack Wang's morning post and Edward Lewis's BSR story on the early practice include video of Eric's media Q&A. In other practice notes:

• Shaq Evans, Devin Fuller, Devin Lucien, Ishmael Adams and Randall Goforth got reps returning punts, per BSR.
• Priest Willis is not yet competing for a spot atop the depth chart at corner, though Coach Mora is generally pleased with his progress throughout the summer and the work he did at home before.
• As of this morning, Simon Goines was close to returning to practice. He has been doing individual work since hyperextending his knee last week in San Berdoo.
• Christian Morris left the AM practice with an Asthma attack.
• During his post-AM practice remarks, Coach Mora discussed his attempt at keeping a balance between the need to have contact and physicality during practice and keeping players healthy for the season.

Coach Mora's full - yet brief - post practice remarks are embedded here, along with a few clips from the early practice.

One of the big general college football stories of the day was Notre Dame losing another 5-star recruit, with Charlotte NC running back Elijah Hood decomitting from Brian Kelly's program early Tuesday. Elijah wrote a statement which he posted on twitter discussing his decision, citing his family as the reason for his decision. His father spoke to a local reporter (ht ESPN) about his son's decision, stating that something happened during a recent unofficial visit to South Bend that caused the change of heart.

"Something changed his mind immediately," Vee Hood told The Observer. "He was scared to tell us. I said there's no need to be scared. It's his decision. I told him, 'You've got to be happy wherever you choose to go.'

A Notre Dame recruit making the decision not to go to South Bend because of family considerations and various shady dealings. Why does that sound so familiar??

Get better soon Anthony, and...

GO BRUINS!