As injuries pile up, UCLA takes break from Thursday practice

Finally, a breather.

With injuries piling up for UCLA, head coach Jim Mora decided to give his Bruins a break — cutting its Thursday practice short. Instead of hitting the field for two hours at 11:15 a.m., the team will practice for a few minutes, then jump in the pool to cool down.

Though temperatures have been milder at Cal State San Bernardino than during UCLA’s last two training camps, the players looked like they needed the rest. Beat down by nine days of camp, the Bruins left standing were sluggish in Wednesday night’s full-pads practice.

Many didn’t take the field at all. The offensive line is without starting center Jake Brendel (MCL), reserves Scott Quessenberry and Carl Hulick. Guard Alex Redmond (heat exhaustion) and tackle Conor McDermott (shoulder) had missed several practices before returning Wednesday night.

Safety Randall Goforth and cornerback Marcus Rios were also absent. They had suffered a shoulder injury and a headache, respectively, earlier in camp.

Receiver Devin Lucien, briefly hospitalized on Tuesday after hitting his head, showed up to Wednesday night’s practice but did not participate.

UCLA have three more scheduled practices in San Bernardino: 8:30 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. Friday, and 10:45 a.m. Saturday.