Coach Jeff Tedford had a surprise for the Cal football team yesterday. During a team meeting, he announced that the previously scheduled practice in full pads – which would have been the second half of a double-day – was no more.
Instead, the Bears would just hold an hour-long walkthrough. No pads, no shells, and – for the most part – no helmets.
“It was a whole different change of energy inside the locker room,” outside linebacker Keith Browner said. “It came from being silent to just being loud and rowdy. Everybody’s just happy to have a day off and get your rest.”
With players often needing to catch their breath to talk after lumbering up the Memorial Stadium steps, it’s clear that the preseason grind has been amped up this fall.
“Man, this year’s camp is the, by far, most hardest camp I’ve ever been in,” added Browner, who was named as a starter earlier this week. “My body’s never been broken down like how the way it is right now. It’s been a very hard camp – it wasn’t like this before.”
The difference has mostly been the amount of hitting the team has done this season, as well as additional running and conditioning. Tedford said that his team has displayed physicality even without pads on.
“People have been pounding it up front,” quarterback Kevin Riley said. “Fullbacks, O-linemen, D-linemen, linebackers – they’ve just been going at it. Everybody’s sore. I think coach has understood that if he wants to have these next couple of days be hard practices with everybody going full speed, we needed a little rest.”
A little rest was especially needed after Wednesday’s live practice. Heading into the last stretch of training camp, the Bears have hit a point where their bodies are beat up, their legs dead. There’s no antidote for that besides a solid breather.
And while part of the change in workload can be attributed to the way practices are scheduled, some of it also stems from more motivation.
“I think that’s just a continuation of how we’ve worked through the winter-spring period and the summer period,” Riley said. “You hear people talking about how we worked harder in the offseason than we have in the past – These eight-win seasons aren’t good enough.”
Quick Hits
-Nearly two full weeks into camp, roughly half the starting spots have been officially locked down. Of note, Tedford said that right now, freshman Keenan Allen would start opposite receiver Marvin Jones – not entirely surprising given how good the five-star recruit has looked this fall.
Kendrick Payne may start at nose tackle, but the position is still competitive.
Giorgio Tavecchio would also start for both kickoffs and field goals after splitting the latter duties with Vincenzo D’Amato last year.
-Running back Shane Vereen took his first reps with the team today, and could see action as soon as this Saturday. Safety Sean Cattouse is still out with a pulled hamstring.