Following a win in the 126th Big Game, Cal’s coaching staff talked to the media Tuesday about the Bears’ performance in that victory and the UCLA matchup that awaits the team in Southern California Saturday.
The Bears are one win away from being in contention for a bowl game, which would be their first since the 2019 season, so there is a lot on the line for this team. Here are five takeaways from Tuesday’s media availability with Cal head coach Justin Wilcox, defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon and offensive coordinator Jake Spavital.
Injury update: Uluave practicing, The Jet could be back soon
The team continues to struggle with injuries, and Wilcox provided the media with injury updates for the week.
“Cade (Uluave) was out at practice today, as was Jaivian Thomas, and looking forward to getting those guys back. They’re day to day but optimistic they’ll return for the weekend. (Isahah) Ifanse is questionable at this point.”
Uluave was injured on a play this past week at Stanford, whereas Ifanse has been recovering from an injury since the Bears’ matchup against USC Oct. 28. The extent or specifics about the injuries, however, are unknown.
Thomas suffered a serious injury against Oregon Nov. 4, and has been working on getting back to health. In previous weeks, the coaching staff couldn’t say if Thomas would be back for a game this season, but Wilcox said the staff is hoping to have the freshman back for the Bears’ trip to Southern California.
Considering the seriousness of Thomas’ injury — he was carted off after being tended to on the field for 15 minutes and taken to a local hospital — even Spavital himself said he was surprised that Thomas might play this weekend.
“Unfortunately, I’ve kind of been a part of some of those scenarios before in my coaching career, and you know that those kids get rattled from an experience like that. And I just think the way that everybody’s handled Jaivian and with coach AT (Aristotle Thompson) and all of the support that he’s had, I think it’s just kind of given him a very comforting feeling,” Spavital said. “That event occurred and that kind of scares a lot of people at times, but Jaivian is a resilient guy.”
