Bruins Need Bell in Their Corner

Jason Bell has reported no pain in his right heel through the first three days of UCLA’s contact drills, an encouraging sign that the problem that ruined his 1999 season is a thing of the past.

Bell started every game at cornerback in ’98 as a junior for the Pacific 10 Conference champions and then the first two contests of his senior season. But then he sat out the final nine games because of tendinitis in the foot, after having surgery in the spring to remove bone spurs.

Ultimately, after waiting all season for his return to help a secondary in distress, the Bruins redshirted Bell, making him a senior again in 2000. He returns to a unit that remains an area of concern--especially at safety--and will need to use all of fall camp to test the heel. But at least Bell comes back healthy.

“The main thing is the strength is there,” he said. “Everybody is sore [at this time of the year]. But the strength is there. I couldn’t run before, I couldn’t cut, but now I have that back.

“I have already played with cutting and going full speed. Things I remember doing from before the injury. Even tackling drills. I can get on someone and push them back again. That feels great.”

Even the two appearances he did make last season, versus Boise State and at Ohio State, came with pain and a lack of mobility, and he spent the next several months limping even with the long layoff from football. By spring practice, Bell said he was at about 85%. Now, with the season opener against Alabama two weeks away, he puts himself at full strength.

That means three of the four starting jobs in the secondary have all but been decided, with Ricky Manning at the other cornerback and Marques Anderson at strong safety. Still to be determined is free safety, where Jason Zdenek, who barely has played his first three seasons, holds an edge.

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This weekend marks one of the few times all season, excluding USC week, when practices are closed. Today’s second session, from 4:10-6 p.m. at Drake Stadium, is invitation-only for donors, and the lone Sunday workout is closed to everyone. . . . Chris Kluwe arrived from Los Alamitos High best known for his 60-yard field goal in a Southern Section playoff game, but his best chance to play as a true freshman will come at punter. Kluwe has struggled in the transition to kicking from the ground, instead of off a tee, and hasn’t done as well on kickoffs as Nate Fikse, so he will instead try to overtake Fikse at punter. Chris Griffith, a pleasant surprise last season as a walk-on redshirt freshman, is the incumbent at kicker. He has since been given a scholarship.