BearTalk

If it seems like the Bears just had a bye week…well…they did. Two games and it’s time for another break. Some of you may know that this bye week wasn’t originally on the schedule. But when Cal and Washington both realized it would have nine straight games without a week off, they agreed to move their game to Dec. 6. That’s why they are ending the season against one another — the game originally was slated for this Saturday.

Coach Jeff Tedford said after practice Tuesday night that this bye week will be a lot like the last one — in other words, the Bears will do more hitting than a usual bye week. Cal will have live full-pad, 11-on-11 sessions of practice both Wednesday and Thursday. In the first bye week, the Bears also had two practices with live sesssions.

Tedford was thrilled about the effects of the first bye week and is hoping for more of the same this time around.

“We’re getting good weeks out of the bye week and we’re able to get some people healthy,” Tedford said. “I was really pleased with our production in our first bye week. If the same production happens this week, I’ll be happy.”

Wide receiver Marvin Jones returned to practice Tuesday night, his first since suffering a sprained knee since the last bye week. Tedford expects Jones to be ready to go for the next game at Arizona next Saturday.

Running back Jahvid Best (disclocated elbow) did some running today. The plan is as follows: Run early this week, lift weights later in the week. On Sunday, start catching some passes. From there, he will have to pass a series of tests to prove he can play against Arizona — getting hit, falling to the turf, protecting himself, demonstrating he has his strength back. Tedford said he still is optimistic Best will return for the Arizona game, but reiterated that’s it not a done deal.

“It’s really important to see how he responds,” Tedford said. “You just don’t know until he starts to do it.”

Tedford reiterated he will not put Best back on the field until he is completely, 100 percent healthy.

“That’s not a sprained ankle,” he said.

Other notes:

–Tedford said he showed the team a clip of Bryan Anger’s 72-yard punt from Saturday. “They were amazed,” he said. Tedford said not only is Anger demonstrating he can kick it deep, but his sky punts inside the 10-yard line have become a weapon as well. Tedford also added that last week was the first time that Anger looked completely healed from the sprained knee he suffered in the season-opener.

–Tedford speculated that Giorgio Tavecchio will continue to handle kickoffs. Tavecchio had a good day against Arizona State, sending four out of five kickoffs past the 10. Tavecchio is quite a story after joining the team just two days before the start of the season.

“When he took the field, it was like ‘Who is this guy?’” Tedford said. “Now, he’s comfortable. Everybody knows his first name. He’s one of the guys now.”