UCLA’s Conor McDermott, and his shoulder, fight for playing time

UCLA’s offensive line has been a tad inconsistent this season, to put it lightly. The unit was demolished against Utah, but looked serviceable against Oregon last week. The Bruins might be getting help from within relatively soon, though, as tackle Conor McDermott continues to get more playing time.

The redshirt sophomore has been dealing with separations in his left shoulder, as well as the complications that go with it, for most of his UCLA career. He saw limited playing time at tackle last year and had surgery last November.

This year, as his shoulder has gotten healthier, the Bruins have rotated McDermott in as a tight end and extra tackle in jumbo formations. On Tuesday, McDermott said that the shoulder is still limiting his range of motion a little bit, but that he’s regaining confidence in its strength.

“It’s feeling a lot better since fall camp, but I’m still just trying to get it stronger each day,” McDermott said. “It felt good out there, it felt healthy on the field, but I need to keep working in the training room.”

With the way that UCLA’s offensive tackles have been playing, it’s not inconceivable that McDermott could see playing time in non-jumbo offensive sets against Cal. There’s precedent — against Oregon, he entered the game in the fourth quarter in place of starter Malcolm Bunche.

“He’s becoming more confident in his shoulder, and more comfortable,” Coach Jim Mora said Tuesday. “Our medical personnel feels more comfortable with him getting an increased amount of work, so we’re creating some packages or moving him around a little bit and just trying to get him work. But I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet with him. I think it would be hard for him probably to play a whole game right now, but we want to keep increasing his workload, because he’s a good player.”

McDermott is 6 feet 9, but looked more like a basketball player than an offensive tackle when he arrived in Westwood. He’s put on enough muscle and strength that if his shoulder stays healthy, his playing time will continue to ramp up.

“He’s a solid guy,” redshirt junior Jake Brendel said. “He always relies on his technique. When he first got in here, he was a little bit skinnier, so he’s been working a lot, day in and day out, to make sure he’s ready for this opportunity.”

For more Bruin observations, follow Everett Cook on Twitter @everettcook