Freshman Jaelan Phillips rushes the quarterback in a drill at practice. Photo by Brittany Murray/SCNG
After playing as the starting cornerback for the first two days of spring practice, John Johnson was missing at Saturday’s practice. It turns out the redshirt senior’s time at UCLA is ending, as Johnson will pursue a graduate transfer, head coach Jim Mora announced Saturday.
Notebook HERE coming on Johnson’s decision to transfer, UCLA’s summer training camp plans and some spring position changes.
Here are notes and observations for the day
— UCLA’s first padded practice was its longest yet. The Bruins went for a full three hours Saturday morning as they also welcomed refs for the first time this spring. Mora usually tells refs to be very strict when it comes to throwing flags, but I saw only a few, which might be an encouraging sign. It also might be a weird fluke.
— Signees Morrell Osling, Moses Robinson-Carr, Jaylan Shaw and Rahyme Johnson were at practice, taking in the sights of their future team. They will join the team in the fall.
— Offensive linemen Alex Akingbulu and Zach Bateman have not been on the field at all this spring and Mora said they are both working through injuries.
— There were some problems with the center-to-quarterback exchange with the backup quarterbacks. Both Devon Modster and Matt Lynch had some trouble securing the snap while under center, sometimes struggling even with starting center Scott Quessenberry. After one fumbled snap, Jedd Fisch went up to Modster and asked sternly, “Devon, who’s fault was that?” Modster’s response wasn’t audible, but I would guess that he said it was his own fault.
— The 9-on-7 period returned for the first time this spring as the team split that time between the run-focused drill and a receiver blocking drill. I don’t recall the receivers doing anything during the 9-on-7 time last year, so splitting up the period seemed to be a much more efficient use of time. While the linebackers, linemen and running backs did the 9-on-7 drill, the receivers and tight ends practiced blocking against the defensive backs on screen passes. Theo Howard had one great rep against Adarius Pickett that drew a big cheer from Mora. Remember that Howard’s inability to consistently block was one of the main reasons that he couldn’t find more time on the field last year.
— Howard later got tangled up during the team period and came up limping, holding his lower left leg above his ankle. He walked very gingerly to the sideline, where he was checked out by trainers. He was seen riding the bike for the remainder of practice.
— Mossi Johnson spent the whole day at defensive back after he split reps between offense and defense Thursday. He made some good plays as well, coming away with an interception in one-on-ones against Damian Alloway and a good pass breakup in 7-on-7s.
— In general, it seemed like the receivers were the winners of most one-on-one battles. Eldridge Massington, Stephen Johnson III, Darren Andrews, Jordan Lasley all had good catches. There were only few drops in the one-on-ones.
— With John Johnson not at practice as he will pursue a grad transfer, Denzel Fisher started opposite Nate Meadors at cornerback.
— The team period somewhat simulated a game situation as each offensive unit moved from about midfield to the end zone. If the drive stalled, they had to punt or kick field goals. In general, the defense dominated the period. The No. 1 offense had very little success. Its first drive ended in a punt. The only scoring drive the first-team offense had ended with a long field goal from J.J. Molson that the rising sophomore pushed through from about 47 yards.
— Modster led the first and only touchdown drive of the period, with Brandon Stephens capping it off with a short touchdown run up the middle. Andrew Strauch kicked the extra point and it was good.
— Jaelan Phillips had an impressive showing in the early drives of the team period with the second defense. He had a nice tackle for loss on a running back on his first drive, diagnosing the play quickly, shedding his block then coming back up the middle to get the stop. On the next drive, he broke through to the back field to pull down Lynch as the quarterback was throwing.
— Of the running plays that were shown during the team period, very few went up the middle. Many stretched toward the sideline, moving the pocket. This is a definite change from last year’s offense when the Bruins repeatedly failed at trying to play in a phone booth.
— It looked like the defensive line lost its one-on-ones with the offense line and was punished accordingly with push ups.
— Kenny Young a nice diving interception in 7-on-7s.
— Molson was 1-of-2 in his practice-ending kicking session, but, combined with the two he made during the team period, was 3-for-4 on the day. Strauch was 2-for-3 at the end of practice. Crawford Pierson missed both of his attempts.