Arizona held its eighth practice of the spring practice period on Thursday. Here are notes and takeaways from Arizona's practice leading up to the Wildcats' scrimmage.ย
* Arizona starting linebacker Jacob Manu was sidelined with a hand injury on Thursday. Manu, who was also out on Tuesday, had a soft cast over his hand and did training drills off to the side. Junior linebacker Justin Flowe, along with Kamuela Ka'aihue, mostly played alongside sophomore Taye Brown.
* Arizona left tackle Raymond Pulido has been sidelined for over a week. On Thursday, redshirt freshman Rhino Tapa'atoutai and early enrollee Matthew Lado traded reps at left tackle.ย
* Arizona's defense had another impressive practice during team periods. Brown and cornerback Tacario Davis each had interceptions on Thursday; Davis' interception was tipped by defensive back Treydan Stukes.
* The Wildcats continued more special teams work on Thursday and, once again, focused on punting. Redshirt sophomore and Phoenix-area native Jordan Forbes took reps at punter once again, along with starting kicker Tyler Loop, who had great hang time and power on kicks. Loop had multiple punts that went longer than 50 yards and forced returners to backpedal to track the ball. Loop punted as a freshman in 2020 and averaged 43 yards per punt.ย
* Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan and cornerbackย Jai-Ayviauynnย Celestine swapped reps at returning punts.
* Walk-on wide receiver and New Orleans native Chris Hunter continues to have a strong spring. The 6-1, 195-pound receiverย pirouetted on a fade route and high-pointed a pass over cornerback Emmanuel Karnley for a huge gain inside the 10-yard line. Hunter has made a few highlight catches this spring.
* Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita had a nifty no-look pass to tight end John Hart, who ran a slant route. While Fifita has thrown a few interceptions this spring, he's been efficient with his passing and is showing more creativity in the pocket.ย
* At the end of practice, second-year linebacker Leviticus Su'a crushed running back Brandon Johnson, causing a fumble that was recovered by Tennessee transfer safety Jack Luttrell.ย ย
* Multiple visitors stopped by practice on Thursday, including former UA linebackers Marcel Wade and Chester Burnett, who is the father of Arizona tight end Keyan Burnett. Former Arizona interim head coach Tim Kish, longtime high school football coach Jeff Scurran and Arizona Bowl Chief Operations Officer Del Arvayo were also on the sidelines.ย
