UCF football opened its second week of training camp with practice No. 7 of the preseason on Tuesday.
Similar to the first practice last week, the initial 30 minutes included a media-viewing session. This was the second time local reporters could watch a portion of drills.
Here are some observations and insider notes from the open period:
UCF starting center Matt Lee was not in attendance, at least while the media were watching. It’s unclear what led to his absence.
With Lee not practicing, offensive guard Lokahi Pauole served as the center for quarterback Mikey Keene during an uptempo drill with the first group.
Redshirt junior Nate Brady snapped the football to quarterback John Rhys Plumlee in the second group.
True freshman Caden Kitler, who played center in high school, snapped the ball to fellow freshman quarterback Thomas Castellanos with the final group during the drill.
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Another offensive lineman who was seen not practicing was redshirt sophomore Patrick Barnett. The Orlando Sentinel reported last week that the Key West native was spotted needing help walking off to the sidelines during practice.
On Tuesday, Barnett arrived at the practice fields using crutches to walk with his right leg in a large brace.
A handful of players who weren’t wearing non-contact gold jerseys last week were doing so on Tuesday: Freshmen wide receiver Xavier Townsend and defensive back Ja’Cari Henderson, redshirt junior running back Mark-Antony Richards and redshirt junior wide receiver Jaylon Griffin.
UCF running back Mark-Antony Richards wore a gold non-contact jersey during Tuesday's practice, meaning he couldn't get tackled during drills. (Jason Beede)
This meant that the group was practicing but in a limited fashion. The non-contact gold jerseys indicated they can’t be tackled during drills.
After practice, defensive coordinator Travis Williams didn’t provide an update on the status of linebacker Quade Mosier and defensive end Landon Woodson as the two continued to not participate in drills.
One slight change was that Woodson wasn’t wearing a knee brace anymore while watching practice. Williams deflected a question about the duo to Gus Malzahn, who talks with reporters Saturday.
“That’s a head coach question. If a guy’s not practicing, I’m not going to speak on that,” Williams said.
With Pauole at center for Keene, there was movement on the offensive line.
UCF offensive lineman Lokahi Pauole snapped the football to quarterback Mikey Keene during the media-viewing session of Tuesday's practice. (Jason Beede)
While it’s bound to change again, here’s how the groups broke down:
First group: Tackle Tylan Grable, guard Sam Jackson, Pauole, guard Ed Collins and tackle Ryan Swoboda.
Second group: Tackle Ethan Mort, guard Cameron Kinnie, Brady, guard Chidoziri Maghiro and tackle Paul Rubelt.
Third group: Tackle Tylan Grable, guard John Harris, Kitler and tackle Shaheem Hill. Collins played at right guard for the third group as well.
One change from last week is that Swoboda moved up from the second group after Collins switched from tackle to guard for the first group.
Additionally, offensive guard Josh Cox, who worked with the second group last week, didn’t participate in the drill.
Malzahn mentioned Sunday that freshman kicker Colton Boomer is dealing with a “tweak” in his leg so senior specialist Daniel Obarski handled all of the field goals during the closed scrimmage.
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That continued Tuesday with Obarski taking all of the field goal attempts during the media-viewing session.
The senior went 5 of 7 with reporters watching, missing two from 40 and 35 yards. The miss from 40 bounced off the left side of the goal post.
Email Jason Beede at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @therealBeede.