BearTalk

Jeff Tedford has always made academics a focal point, so he wanted to make sure his message was heard Wednesday night.

Before a reporter could the first question after practice, Tedford pulled out a piece of paper with a list of his players that made the Pac-10 All-Academic team announced Wednesday.

Three members of the Bears made the first team — linebacker Mike Mohamed (3.43 GPA, business administration), wide receiver Alex Lagemann (3.68, media studies), and offensive lineman Mark Boskovich (3.73, political science). Included on the second team were kicker Giorgio Tavecchio (3.57, undeclared), left guard Matt Summers-Gavin (3.36, political science) and defensive end Ernest Owusu (3.12, undeclared).

For Mohamed and Boskovich, it was their second selection to the team.

Of course, we had already seen the team, but Tedford wanted to make sure of it.

“I’m really pleased that the hard work pays off,” Tedford said. “We spend a lot of time and a lot of focus on academics. It’s nice to see those guys get recognized.”

Of course, Tedford know something about producing good scholar-athletes. Last year, center Alex Mack won the Draddy Award as the best student-athlete in the nation (among football players).

On the field, there was one significant development today. Summers-Gavin missed his second straight day of practice and it turns out he suffered a concussion against Stanford and may not play Saturday. Tedford said a determination of Summers-Gavin’s availability will be made Thursday. Boskovich has been taking Summers-Gavin’s reps and will start in his place if need be.

Cornerback Syd’Quan Thompson (sprained ankle) also was held out of practice again, but Tedford said he did some running Wednesday and still should be ready to go by Saturday.

Nothing new on Jahvid Best. Best was flying back home from Pittsburgh today and Tedford hadn’t yet spoken with him. So there is nothing to report yet from his examination with Dr. Michael Collins, a concussion expert at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. All we know is Best definitely will miss another game.

That’s it for now. Got tied up working on a couple stories today so I didn’t have time to provide full transcriptions yet from yesterday’s press luncheon. Hope to have those tomorrow. Also, don’t forget about our live chat tomorrow from 1-2 p.m.