There was a some annoyance from Beau Baldwin as he came over to the interview area after Cal's practice. It was an alright day, per Baldwin and WR coach Burl Toler, with stuff to tighten up as the game prep continues for UC Davis.

"We started out solid in some of the things that we were doing," Baldwin said, "we have an uptempo period early in practice, but then we let the newness of 'Tuesday' (during game week) get to us, and we've got to be better early in the week. Coach hit on that in the end, they have to own it, and the thing about our guys is that they're resilient, and they'll respond. Even if certain things didn't go how they want, they'll come back screaming and fighting."

Toler put it a little more succinctly

"We had a decent one today," Toler said, "gotta tighten up though."

That's not something that bothers Cal's offensive coordinator, who often stresses, like the rest of the staff, stacking good practices on top of one another

"No, I don't get concerned, I don't get stressed about that," Baldwin said, "I've had great Tuesday practices where we've played like crap on Saturday, and I've had the other way. It's not so much what happens, it's what we do tomorrow with it."

Tuesday is the heaviest practice of the week for the Bears, as there's plenty of installation for the game ahead. Baldwin's looking out for a defense that runs similar sets to Cal, though one, in news broken by Jeff Faraudo earlier today, that won't have top linebacker Montell Bland playing.

"They go in and out of odd and even fronts," Baldwin said, "they disguise it pretty well, you don't necessarily get a beat on them, in changes from game to game, and they're talented. They're a top 5 team for a reason. You see smart, tough, athletic football players on the defensive side of the ball."

"They're very impressive," OL Matt Cindric added, "they've got lots of talent, you don't see that all the time at the FCS level, we're going to have to come out and have our A-game on, first game, anything can happen. We're preparing like we're playing any Pac-12 team."

Cindric set for First Start

Cindric has long been a guy Justin Wilcox and his staff have spoken highly of. Ever since Wilcox raved about Cindric's motor on signing day in December of 2017, the Sammamish Skyline HS product has been a guy who seemed poised to play sooner rather than later.

Sooner is now, as Cindric has replaced the injured Gentle Williams in the starting lineup at left guard.

"I'm excited, I'm ready to get back on the field," Cindric said, "I haven't played in a game since my senior year of high school. I'm ready to get that feeling in again and I'm excited to get back out there and help the team.

Cindric, who would've probably been the first lineman off the bench had Williams not gone down with a season ending injury, was praised by Baldwin for being a knowledgeable guy.

"I don't think things have changed for him at all," Baldwin said, "he was ready to go whether it was the 1st snap of the game or the 20th, he's doing fine. He's gonna be one of those guys you can trust."

A big influence for Cindric has been Mike Saffell, who has played both positions Cindric has worked at (center and guard).

"He's been super supportive of me, whenever I make a mistake," Cindric said, "he's like, 'get on to the next one, we'll fix it later.' His knowledge base of the offense is second to none, he's talking to me and giving me pointers all the time."

Even more influential is the extra size Cindric put on in the offseason. He's up to around 295, as he did get pushed around during developmental periods in practice a year ago when he was around 270 lbs. That's not happening anymore.

"It started for me during my redshirt season," Cindric said,"lifting four days a week, getting stronger there, and once that season ended just focusing on trying to eat as much as I can, healthy obviously, get in the weight room as much as possible, try to take extra reps. Just trying to be in a position where I'd be in a position to start."

While Cindric will start this week, he may face an even bigger test, trying to grab as many tickets as he can for next week's road contest against Washington.

"I'm gonna try to get as many as I can and divvy them out from there," Cindric noted. "I've already been asking, trying to get first dibs. I'm sure Weav's trying to get a few too. I think I'm the only guy from the greater Seattle area, so hopefully I can wrangle up a few."

Toler going up against former boss in Hawkins

WR coach Burl Toler coached under current DC Tim DeRuyter at Fresno State. He came back to Berkeley in 2018 under Justin Wilcox. But between those two, he worked as the wide receivers coach under Dan Hawkins at UC Davis in 2017.

"Coach Hawkins is awesome for the program, for the community," Toler said, "he's a Davis guy, he played there. He won a lot of games as a player and as a coach as well. He's top to bottom, takes care of business, and knows what it takes to get the program to where it needs to be. It was an honor to coach under him that year, I learned a tremendous amount. He's a unique individual, he's uncommon in the way he teaches and his style."

While media didn't get to go in and take a look, Cal's new locker room was unveiled Tuesday evening. Made possible by a seven figure donation by former Cal QB, current Green Bay Packer and mustache aficionado Aaron Rodgers, the locker room now bears his name. The lockers were designed by Longhorn Lockers, a Texas based company.