How appropriate that David Blough's shoulder injury Saturday during Purdue's scrimmage came with him diving for a pylon in a two-minute drill. Blough's competitiveness always has been one of his best traits — and it's exactly that kind of fight and love for football that this coaching staff wants to see from its players.
The result of the play certainly is unfortunate, but I'm guessing there was a considerable sigh of relief from Blough, etc., Monday upon getting the MRI results and hearing the injury is only a strain (per Jeff Brohm). There probably was a touch of fear it could have been much worse. "Shoulder injury" and "quarterback" is never a good combination.
And it's still not a good combination, even in the "strain" sense, of course, because it means Blough probably will not be practicing soon. And every rep in this offense is a crucial one. Though Blough said this summer and earlier in camp, he felt like he had a good grasp of Brohm's playbook, he also was running with an offensive line that was getting shuffled the first week-plus of camp, with receivers that were new and going against a defense in team periods that was aggressive, flying around and bringing pressure. Like Brohm said Saturday — quarterbacks can look great against air and in 7-on-7, but it's a completely different vibe when it's full-on team, live and there's a rush coming. Blough needs more reps in those situations. He won't get them for a week? Two? We're not exactly sure on the timeframe of when he'll return to practice because Brohm used the "day-to-day" term after practice.
One could argue Sindelar could use those reps more than Blough, I suppose. Even if Blough would only have a week to prepare of Louisville, at least he's had nearly two seasons' worth of game experience to draw from. Sindelar, though, should benefit considerably from getting more first-team reps in practice and going against the first-team defense. Would love to see him (not literally, of course) really make quick decisions with the football to allow his arm to be the real weapon it can be, if that makes sense.
Brohm already was toying with the idea of playing a second quarterback in games, if needed. It's never a good thing when the starter gets injured, even if this is more of a two-week deal than a two-month one, but, in this case, it could help Purdue in the long run to allow Sindelar more reps.
The result of the play certainly is unfortunate, but I'm guessing there was a considerable sigh of relief from Blough, etc., Monday upon getting the MRI results and hearing the injury is only a strain (per Jeff Brohm). There probably was a touch of fear it could have been much worse. "Shoulder injury" and "quarterback" is never a good combination.
And it's still not a good combination, even in the "strain" sense, of course, because it means Blough probably will not be practicing soon. And every rep in this offense is a crucial one. Though Blough said this summer and earlier in camp, he felt like he had a good grasp of Brohm's playbook, he also was running with an offensive line that was getting shuffled the first week-plus of camp, with receivers that were new and going against a defense in team periods that was aggressive, flying around and bringing pressure. Like Brohm said Saturday — quarterbacks can look great against air and in 7-on-7, but it's a completely different vibe when it's full-on team, live and there's a rush coming. Blough needs more reps in those situations. He won't get them for a week? Two? We're not exactly sure on the timeframe of when he'll return to practice because Brohm used the "day-to-day" term after practice.
One could argue Sindelar could use those reps more than Blough, I suppose. Even if Blough would only have a week to prepare of Louisville, at least he's had nearly two seasons' worth of game experience to draw from. Sindelar, though, should benefit considerably from getting more first-team reps in practice and going against the first-team defense. Would love to see him (not literally, of course) really make quick decisions with the football to allow his arm to be the real weapon it can be, if that makes sense.
Brohm already was toying with the idea of playing a second quarterback in games, if needed. It's never a good thing when the starter gets injured, even if this is more of a two-week deal than a two-month one, but, in this case, it could help Purdue in the long run to allow Sindelar more reps.
