Cal coach Justin Wilcox chats about QB battle, standout spring players

Cal spring practice reached the halfway point on Saturday.

The following statements are edited for readability.

On effort and focus at Saturday’s scrimmage.

Well, I think effort was really pretty good. I think the energy at practice was good. There were certain individuals and position groups that we didn't need to focus and need to have productive practice.

So they have an individual or it's a little flat coming out here. There's got to be ownership in getting your mentally to the place where you can come out here and have productive practice, because if not, if we're just out here bringing energy but not focus, you might as well run the fire drill or go in the weight room.

What's the quarterback situation looking like

I'm pleased they're both here. I think they're each getting better.

Chandler's played a lot of football, so it's verbiage and getting comfortable in the offense. But has a sense of calm when he plays the game because he's got that experience. He doesn't have the experience here and in this system. But I think it's coming day by day.

And Fernando is still a young player that gets better every time he comes out here. Both of them come out here with a purpose of getting better and both have leadership qualities.

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More spring practice interviews from last week:

OC Mike Bloesch | RB coach Aristotle Thompson

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On turnovers in practice

There's no leeway on the ball. The ball is the only sacred thing in the program. There's no sacred coach or player or drill that the ball is sacred.

We're on a new year. We have new players and a new team, so we've got to be ball aware.

Everything that we do defensively, we got to be ball aware offensively, we got to be ball aware and so we track that daily and every drill that we do every team period, every seven on seven, one on one, any time the ball's involved, which is always we're tracking it because it's it's the most important part of the game.

On how true freshman BJ Canady is looking

He's learning a lot. I mean, it's just thrown into the deep end a bit. He's a big guy. He's raw and he's he's got a lot to learn, but I'm really glad he's with the team.

On Nick Morrow moving into a left tackle role

I think Nick, he's got a come a long way. If you remember Nick was a grayshirt, basically signed him and sat out the fall of his freshman year, he was a tight end and defensive end from Flagstaff and came to our camp and worked out as a tight end, defensive end, a very athletic guy at that time, real young and huge frame.

He has a lot of tools that nobody can teach or coach. His size frame is kind of his body comp and his mass. He's got very, very good feet for a guy that size and he's learning to play O-line.

If he continues to work at it and pour into football, he's got a very bright future. How fast can he pick these things up? There's nothing like playing the game. He needs every practice, every drill, every workout with Coach [Bloesch], he needs all of it, every meeting walk through. And if he can stay focused in which he's done to his credit, I mean, if he continues to pour himself into playing offensive line, he's got a very, very bright future.

On Victor Stoffel returning to practice from injury

I don't know. That's between he and the the sports med staff. So we really need him out there or any day that we can get him out. Unfortunately he hasn't been out yet.

On how wide receiver Mikey Matthews has looked and whether he will return kicks/punts

The first thing that jumps out about Mikey, he's a very, very competitive guy. And you see that in the drill work. You see it just his energy at practice. He's type-A and I love that. And he's he still got to improve. And I think he's done a good job of picking up the offense.

He's played college football before he can run, and I think he loves football. That's what he does shows when he comes out here to practice.

Expect him to return kicks, some punts. He's back there doing a good job with that. He's got some of those skills that you look for. Being able to make somebody miss. First thing you do is have courage and you got have the skill to catch the ball. And then you got to be able to have the physical ability to do something with it after you catch it. And he seems to have those three things.

On who is looking good as spring practice progresses

Nick Morrow's one. He's in that mix for sure. You know that.

Well, they were new, but the midyear defensive backs have all flashed at some point. Ja’ir [Smith]. Marcus [Harris]. Now I don't know … improvement is hard for me to say because we weren't with them last year right. But those guys have flashed and there's a lot of guys who seem to be making improvements.

[Kadarius] Calloway showed up there, so we'll see. I don't know if I have two or three that are the most improved. But we need everybody getting better. And that's that's what you're looking for and you're trying to build as much competition as you can.