Rico Flores Jr. sprinted as hard as he could across Drake Stadium’s grass surface. The burst the wide receiver showed in the mid-August practices was reminiscent of the ability that made him one of the top transfers in UCLA’s 2024 class.
The Northern California native was just happy to be back. His effort – not as if his teammates weren’t sprinting full effort too – appeared as a man on a mission, trying to flex that he was ready to return to his coaches and training staff as the season got underway.
“Every time I got the opportunity to go show myself, I try to go full tilt or close to it,” Flores, who returned from a torn ACL on Saturday against Northwestern, said of those sprints Tuesday. “When I got those opportunities, I took full advantage of it.”
Flores, who missed the final eight games of the 2024 season after tearing his ACL, had to hold back in early practices, balancing the end of the rehabilitation process as he attempted not to overshoot the max capacity that the training staff had established for him. But when it’s time to impress, the former Notre Dame transfer wanted to show his team he was ready.
UCLA’s wait to get Flores back to full health paid off Saturday, the redshirt sophomore wide receiver tallying four catches for 43 yards – becoming a clear target for quarterback Nico Iamaleava as the Bruins’ comeback attempt fell just short in a 17-14 defeat.
Flores and Iamaleava, who played in football camps together as children, were finally provided the chance to showcase the chemistry they’d built off the field in Big Ten action. It’s a connection the Bruins (0-4) might have to lean on when No. 7 Penn State visits the Rose Bowl on Saturday.
Happiness and other emotions overcame Flores, he said, when he was told he’d be making his season debut against Northwestern, but the wait wasn’t easy. Sitting on the sidelines, he had watched the Bruins stumble through three losses, leading to head coach DeShaun Foster’s dismissal.
“Very frustrating, very frustrating,” said Flores, who had 12 catches for 187 yards with one touchdown in four games last season. “But you know, I got to be the leader on the team and keep everybody up. Can’t let none of the noise get to us, especially when we take losses.”
The 6-foot-2 redshirt sophomore took solace in the return-to-play recovery group, leaning on teammates like Carter Shaw and Hudson Habermehl, learning more about himself – outside of the gridiron – in the process, he said.
Habermehl, who said his second knee operation came after Flores’, said he was proud of his teammate and expects Flores to be a big factor on offense going forward.
“We were catching rides together with our cast brace on,” Habermehl said, adding that the RTP group became a “family.” “He’s been grinding in the training room with me, and his progression it’s been tough, and I know what it’s like, but I was really happy to see him out there. And he killed it.”
For Flores, it feels like Day One again in Westwood, at full health and raring to go.
“I feel like I ain’t skip a beat, honestly,” Flores said. “That’s how I feel.”