The latest Rocky sequel was staged on the Hawai'i football team's grass practice field yesterday.

It featured defensive lineman Rocky Savaiigaea's participation in team drills for the first time since he underwent surgery on his left triceps last fall.

"For the first day, it feels good," said Savaiigaea, who will be a fifth-year senior in the fall.

In the first week of the 2008 training camp, Savaiigaea suffered a tear to his left triceps. He tried to heal through aggressive rehabilitation. But he aggravated the injury, and then underwent surgery.

The surgeon drilled two holes into a bone. The tendons were attached, then looped through the bone for added support.

"That gave it stability," Savaiigaea said.

Savaiigaea was cleared to participate in most of the offseason workouts. During spring training, he competed in position drills, but not the full-contact team drills.

He said he had been experiencing "a lot of pain lately." But he was told that was normal because he was asked to expand his range of motion.

"'It's a lot of scar tissue breaking off," he said. "That's why it's a little sore here and there. You have to push through it."

Yesterday, he competed as a left tackle in the base scheme (4-3 alignment) and nose tackle in the Okie defense (3-3-5).

Savaiigaea said he prefers the left side, in which his right hand is planted as part of a three-point stance.

"I can play heavy with my right arm," he said. "I've always been a left-side tackle. That's my comfort zone."

As for today's assessment, Savaiigaea said: "It feels good to get out there and run around. I haven't really run around like that in the spring."

TORRES JUMPS AHEAD

Richard Torres has jumped into the lead as the nickleback, in large part to his improved jumping.

Torres is a participant in the speed-and-quickness program crafted by strength coach Mel deLaura and associate head coach Rich Miano. Borrowing concepts first introduced by the late Terry Albritton, who served as UH strength coach in the 1970s, the program emphasizes plyometrics and resistance training.

The belief is that running is, really, a series of jumps. "They worked on my vertical jumps and my broad jumps," Torres said.

One of the drills was the squat jump. Torres would go into a squat position, jump and then land in a squat. He would do 100 reps.

Torres, who is 5 feet 7, has a vertical jump of 30 inches and broad jump of 9 feet.

As a Kahuku High senior, Torres wrestled at 145 pounds. He weighed 160 when he enrolled at UH as a part-time student in August 2007.

He joined the football program, as a grayshirt, in January 2008.

Torres, who now weighs 171, managed to improve his quickness.

"That's what happens when you gain good weight," Miano said. "In three years, he'll be 190, and as fast as anybody out here."

Torres used to be mostly known as the son of Kahuku High football coach Reggie Torres.

"He went from being a guy you went, 'Oh, my gosh,' and 'he's Reggie's son,' to being the only freshman who played and contributed last year," Miano said. "Of all of the guys who were on scholarship, he was the guy out there playing, being on kickoff coverage, making tackles, making plays. It wasn't because he was Reggie's son. It was because he was that much better."

Torres, who lives a block from the Lower Campus, plans to move back to the North Shore this summer. Torres and Kahuku teammate Paipai Falemalu will make the daily commute to Manoa.

"We're going to save money staying at home," Torres said. "The main thing is we'll eat mom's dinners. Just like (former UH safety) Leonard Peters said, 'nothing's better than a home-cooked meal.' "

Reach Stephen Tsai at st sai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8051. Blog: warrior beat.honadvblogs.com.