Senior free safety Tony Dye is not likely to return to the field this season for the UCLA football team, according to coach Rick Neuheisel.
Dye, a captain who was supposed to anchor the defensive backfield this season, has been bothered by a nerve issue in his neck that has kept him out of the Bruins’ last four games.
He has not played since UCLA’s Sept. 17 loss to Texas and was listed as questionable for last week’s loss to Arizona before being downgraded to “out” on this week’s injury report for UCLA’s upcoming game against Cal. Neuheisel downgraded Dye even further when asked about it after Tuesday’s practice.
“Tony is down,” Neuheisel said. “He and his family will continue to look for another way, but I just don’t think (bringing him back) is the prudent thing to do.
“I think he needs to get himself 100 percent healthy and hopefully come back and play for us next year.”
Prior to the Texas game, Dye was practicing in a red no-contact jersey for what Neuheisel called “general soreness,” but the injury has turned into something much more complicated. Neuheisel said Dye gets stingers and goes partially numb in his neck when he makes contact on a play.
Dye would be eligible for a hardship waiver because he has appeared in less than 30 percent of the team’s contests, making him eligible to return to play next season.
Redshirt freshman Tevin McDonald has started in Dye’s place during the last four games. According to fellow captain and redshirt junior running back Johnathan Franklin, the rest of the team is moving on without him.
“It’s the next Bruin up,” Franklin said. “I feel bad for Tony, but we can’t worry about Tony Dye. I wish him the best of luck, but it’s the next Bruin up.”
Prince ready for a third shot
With redshirt junior quarterback Kevin Prince’s injury history, it’s hard to find a Pac-12 team that he has played against in each of his three years under center. There is one, however, and it is Cal, against whom UCLA and Prince will face off this weekend.
“It’s nice to know that I’m playing at least one team all three years,” Prince said. “I’m just looking forward to playing them again.”
The Bruins haven’t beaten the Golden Bears since 2007, falling 35-7 on the road last season.
The brothers Kendricks
Redshirt freshman linebacker Eric Kendricks will be reuniting with his older brother Mychal, a senior linebacker for the Golden Bears. Mychal Kendricks is ranked third in the Pac-12 conference in tackles, averaging nearly eight per game.
“I definitely look up to him as an older brother and as a football player,” Eric Kendricks said of Mychal Kendricks. “Hopefully, I can emulate him and his work ethic.”
Pink patrol
Adidas has provided UCLA with pink accessories to wear on Saturday to support Breast Cancer Awareness Month.