Spring Day 4 Wrap-Ups, RJ, CB

Dayton Morinaga writes about yesterday's first practice in full pads.

Several of the veteran defensive linemen were impressive yesterday, including Fonoti, Veikune and Keala Watson.

"This is the kind of stuff you can't do in the offseason — going full speed with pads on," Watson said. "It was good for the young guys to get into it and get that game experience, and good for the returning guys to stay ahead of the game."

Dave Reardon has a few quotes from yesterday's practice. Inoke Funaki talks about the offense.

"It was better than a lot of people were thinking we would do, especially because our defense has so many good players returning. It's the strong point of our team," Funaki said. "I think our offense is believing in itself now since we made some plays against a good defense. Maybe we're better than what people are thinking we are."

Jason Kaneshiro and Brian McInnis have some news and notes, along with an injury report.

Senior running back Dave Farmer said he expects to return "probably next week." He rolled an ankle last Wednesday in warm-up drills.

Junior Laupepa Letuli, a contender to be a starting offensive lineman in the fall, also remains out with a tender hamstring.

Kaneshiro profiles linebacker R.J. Kiesel-Kauhane.

Though still playing behind a heralded group of Warriors linebackers, the fourth-year junior appears headed in that direction.

Kiesel-Kauhane was a special-teams fixture last season and has been running with the second unit at outside linebacker so far this spring. He got some reps with the first team yesterday morning when the Warriors went 11-on-11 for the first time in spring practice.

"He's probably our strongest linebacker, bar none," Elimimian said. "He's worked really hard and plays with passion.

Kyle Sakamoto has an article about four receivers hoping to take the place of last year's starters.

The University of Hawai'i's Malcolm Lane, Greg Salas, Aaron Bain and Michael Washington are hoping the sequel to last season's "Fantastic Four" receivers will get rave review just like the original.

The quartet practiced with the first-team offense yesterday as the Warriors suited up in pads for the first time this spring.

"I think the chemistry is pretty good because we've been here for a while," Bain said. "Just enough so we know where everybody is going to be out on the field, we know everybody's tendencies."

And Dave Reardon has more details about Colt Brennan's successful surgery.

The former Hawaii quarterback spent 20 minutes pedaling a stationary bike -- per doctor's orders -- following successful right hip surgery to deal with a torn labrum.

"There's a ton of swelling and you have to flush the fluid," Brennan said in a phone interview. "This is part of the process."

Brennan was in a hospital in Vail, Colo. He said the surgery, the first of his football career, "was great," although he was in considerable pain afterward.

"The doctor (renowned hip surgeon Marc Philippon) said the good news is that it was exactly what was diagnosed, and nothing worse," Brennan added.

... forgot to add that the Dallas Morning News will be hosting a live chat with June Jones tomorrow at 10am Central. You can submit questions in advance to chat@dallasnews.com