CARMICHAEL, Calif. — The Bears were back in action Tuesday as the final days of training camp play out this week. Tuesday was the last practice with any observation permitted, so it was the last day anyone outside of the program will get a glimpse of the team until the opener against UC Davis. It was a little warmer at Jesuit High School on Tuesday giving Justin Wilcox what he was looking for in the two days away from Berkeley.
The team has been mostly able to avoid any tempers flaring for a couple weeks now, but Tuesday was a throwback to the early days of camp. There were a couple small scuffles as the dog days of camp have arrived. There was a different energy during both days in Carmichael, and things became a bit more heated Tuesday.
The aggression seemed to again come from the defensive side, but things didn't get too out of hand and overall it felt more positive than negative at this point in camp. It is clear that the players want to see someone else though as has been the general vibe in the last two days.
There were a couple team periods in addition to the usual individual practice work on Day 17, and here's a rundown of how things went on my last day getting a look at the Bears until next Saturday.
Practice 17 notes and observations
- At this point, it is just easiest to begin with the quarterback competition. It remains unclear whether or not the staff will announce a decision this week, but the players have not made that job any easier this week. There continues to be very little separation between Fernando Mendoza and Chandler Rogers with reps still being split among those two players while CJ Harris continues to get a good amount of reps with the third unit. That could change Wednesday as the team starts to begin turning its attention to game prep.
Tuesday, the quarterbacks had one of the more productive days as a group that they have had in quite some time. In all, there were six touchdowns thrown during the team periods on Day 17 led by three red zone scores for Harris. Early in practice, the staff used their "siren" period to quickly get the team inside the 10-yard line for a quick team period. The goal of the siren period is to catch the players off guard and make them think quickly to get lined up and ready to run a play.
Harris converted on three consecutive drives to finish the team period as the staff continued to let him work without rotating to end that stretch. His work did come against the third-unit defense, so that is something to keep in mind. However, he did look sharp with 3-yard touchdown passes to running back Jamaal Wiley and receiver Isaac Torres plus an 8-yard touchdown pass to Myles Reber.
Rogers accounted for two touchdown passes on the day including one during the siren period as he linked up with running back Kadarius Calloway for 3-yard score. His big play came early in the team period as he worked with the second unit. He found receiver Trond Grizzell on a pass led to a 46-yard score for the offense. Grizzell gained close to 25 yards on his own on the play with an impressive run after the catch to reach the end zone. Rogers opened the second team period with the first unit.
He had an impressive 15-yard run early in the second team period while working behind the first offensive line.
Mendoza came up empty in terms of touchdowns during the first team period, which he opened with the first unit. However, he finished up practice with a nice sequence as he found Jordan King on a tough play in the end zone that resulted in a 15-yard score.
- If you're keeping score at home, that means the first-unit defense again was able to hold the offense out of the end zone in what has become a theme throughout camp. There was a different energy about that group on Day 17, and it carried over into the team periods. A batted pass by Nate Burrell early set the tone early, and that first unit was again able to cause havoc around the line of scrimmage.
There were back-to-back sacks early in the first team period, and a few tackles for loss tacked onto that by the end of practice. Inside linebackers Teddye Buchanan and Aaron Hampton plus outside linebacker David Reese accounted for those tackles for loss.
- Someone new getting an opportunity to shine a bit on Day 17 was freshman Michael-Anthony Okwura who came up with a sack while working against Mendoza and the second offense late in the second team period.
- Defensive back Isaiah Crosby continued his strong finish to camp with a pass breakup early during the siren team period.
- Inside linebacker Cade Uluave had a strong showing on Day 17 with a pressure on Mendoza in the first team period that forced a throwaway before coming up with stop against Jaydn Ott on a screen attempt.
- The staff continues to rotate different players through the first unit at receiver. Cal is dealing with missing players at the position right now, but Tuesday's first group was led by Tobias Merriweather to go along with Mavin Anderson in the slot and Jonathan Brady at the other outside position. That group figures to see a heavy rotation, so it's not a surprise to see so many different players get their opportunity to work with the first unit in recent practices.
- The team didn't go live on kickoff returns but Ott spent some time as a return man on Tuesday. Overall, he had a solid day with his continued light workload during camp. The Cal running back had a nice 12-yard run early in the second team period that allowed him to get loose a little bit.
Post-practice interviews
Practice 17 clips
