Brehaut returns to practice from broken leg

UCLA junior quarterback Richard Brehaut returned to practice on Tuesday, exactly a month after he suffered a fractured lower left leg in the second quarter of the Bruins’ 28-25 win over Washington State at the Rose Bowl on Oct. 8.

Brehaut was originally listed as being out 3-to-6 weeks after he was hurt on a quarterback keeper with just less than 10 minutes left in the first half against the Cougars, just three weeks after he assumed the starting quarterback position from junior Kevin Prince after Prince’s shaky performance in a Week 3 loss to Texas.

“To be in drills, throwing some individual some routes, it felt good to be out there again,” Brehaut said. “Definitely had some rust throwing routes. Just my timing – haven’t done any of that in a month. But it’s nice to be out here again, to put these pads on.”

Brehaut, who estimated he was at about 80 percent of full health on Tuesday, has completed 66-of-119 passes for 935 yards and six touchdowns with zero interceptions in six games with four starts. Prince has performed admirably for much of Brehaut’s absence, particularly in the last two games, both UCLA wins. Prince has rushed for a team-high 224 yards in wins over Cal and then-No. 19 Arizona State, while completing 20-of-35 passes for 288 yards and a score.

UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel has been non-committal about who will handle quarterback duties when Brehaut is fully healthy, but Neuheisel did not expect Brehaut to be ready for UCLA’s matchup at Utah on Saturday.

“Probably not, but I don’t even rule him ever out,” Neuheisel said. “He’s still sore, and he’s rusty. You can’t be gone since the Washington State game and not come back rusty. But it’s good to have him starting that process.”

Brehaut maintains that he wanted to return to practice last week, when he had his walking boot removed, but knows that the questions about his health will linger until he’s full-go. On Tuesday, he practiced lightly and he still needs to be reintroduced to team drills and live action.

“The big tell will be how I feel tomorrow,” Brehaut said on Tuesday. “We’re going to see how moving around on it today, doing the most I’ve done in almost a month, how it feels tomorrow. Right now, I feel good. I’m not too sore.”