Special teams coordinator Ikaika Malloe underwent a successful appendectomy and is expected to rejoin the Hawai'i football team for tomorrow's game against Nevada.

"I feel good," said Malloe, who underwent surgery Wednesday night and was discharged from The Queen's Medical Center yesterday afternoon.

Malloe expressed an intention of attending practice yesterday morning, but "the doctor looked at me kind of weird."

Malloe said he began feeling discomfort near the end of practice Wednesday morning.

"My stomach was hurting," he said. "At the 4 o'clock meeting, things got really bad. The right side of my stomach had a piercing feeling."

After the meeting, he consulted with the team physician, Dr. Andrew Nichols, who ordered Malloe to go to the hospital immediately.

After a CAT scan showed the inflamed appendix, Malloe underwent the one-hour appendectomy.

"The surgery went well," Malloe said. "I can walk OK."

But his doctor and then UH head coach Greg McMackin rejected Malloe's request to attend yesterday's practice.

"I told him, 'No, stay home and take care of yourself,' " McMackin said.

Several coaches, including Rich Miano and George Lumpkin, helped fill the void, following Malloe's instructions.

Malloe is "such a pro about this," Miano said. "He called. He text-messaged. He gave instructions on what to do for the whole thing."

Malloe has been instrumental this week in restructuring special teams. Malcolm Lane and Aaron Bain will handle kickoff and punt returns, respectively. The Warriors also are auditioning a replacement for Victor Clore, who was a key wedge blocker on kickoff returns. Clore has a knee injury.

"Coach (Malloe) is a great guy, a great coach," Clore said. "He's a player's coach. I can relate to him."

C.J. Allen-Jones, one of the candidates to replace Clore, said Malloe is "a good man, very intense. He gets me fired up to play special teams."

Malloe said he hopes to be able to attend today's walk-through workout.

"I can't stay away from football," he said.

'MOSS' A GREAT CATCH

Wideout Greg Salas, who has been the Warriors' most productive receiver the past couple of games, has earned the nickname "Greg Moss," a tribute to All-Pro receiver Randy Moss.

"He makes plays, unbelievable plays," McMackin said. "He can catch it with one hand. He's around the football. He's got great size, and a great attitude."

The past two games, the 6-foot-2 third-year sophomore has eight catches for 162 yards, accounting for 36 percent of the Warriors' receiving yards.

Salas has benefitted from more playing time — this is his first year as a starter — and an intensive offseason training program. He worked out with personal trainers in California, going through a weight-training program focused on bench presses, squats and power cleans. He now weighs 200 pounds, 15 more than his weight when he first enrolled at UH in August 2006.

"My first year, I used to get jammed a lot on the line," Salas said. "Coming to college, those corners are bigger, and they're physical. They'll try to get in your face. You can't let them do that. Getting bigger was definitely a goal of mine."

So, too, was improving his post-catch running.

"You have to make the most of your opportunity," Salas said. "You have to get extra yards out of the 8-yard routes. You have to push up field. You have to get as much as you can. You don't know when you're going to catch a ball again."

There's one change that his roommate, Rick Taylor, wishes Salas had not made. Taylor wears a shirt with the words "tres" and "seis" — "3" and "6" — on the back. Salas switched from No. 36 last season to No. 1 this year.

"I told him he needs to go back to 36," Taylor said. "It's a funny receiver number."

Read his blog at http://warriorbeat.honadvblogs.com.