Spaulding Roundup - UCLA Football Captains Named, Injury Round Up, and Ellis McCarthy

After the morning practice, Mora has his basic remarks with an injury roundup and it sounds like almost everyone will be available for Virginia that hasn't already been declared out (like a Simon Goines.)  Most significantly, Jake Brendel will be back for Virginia.  Marcus Rios is at a specialist for migraines.

Video courtesy of UCLA Athletics

The biggest news out of the morning practice session were that captains were selected for this year:
Offense: Brett Hundley and Jake Brendel
Defense: Eric Kendricks and Owamagbe Odighizuwa
Special Teams: Ryan Hofmeister and Taylor Lagace.

In practice, they are working on tempo, and they have been running 20 second play clocks to keep the tempo up.  Also, practice will still be early next week, starting each practice before kick off next Saturday, to get everyone ready.  Mora in the long run doesn't think this is an issue.  Full Virginia prep has barely begun, but it will start on Thursday a bit and it will be full swing starting on Monday.

As for Ellis McCarthy, he was not hurt that one week he didn't play at camp, they just wanted to work on his fitness and weight.  He was doing individual drills and hitting the bike, and Mora is happy where he is now.  McCarthy is down to 330 and hopes to be at 324 by next Saturday.  Check out this video interview courtesy of the OC Register with McCarthy where he discusses his weight.

Other random notes from the morning practice:

• When asked about Coach Ulbrich and what he brings to the team, Mora says he brings passion and a sense of purpose - coaching hard with a positive vibe. Mora also references his 10 years of NFL experience as credibility with our players.
• Mora also mentioned that he thought this was the best SB camp ever, as they've reached a level of maturity he likes but he thought the camp was successful and it will only be successful if we enforce the culture.
• When asked about Mossi Johnson, Mora stated he is a great competitor, and he had the mindset that nothing will hold him back.  He hated being hurt but he wouldn't let anything hold him back. He plays hard and Mora likes his toughness and focus.