WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana – The Purdue football team held a practice session Friday at Ross-Ade Stadium for its annual Fan Day and gave enthusiastic fans a chance to create a game-day atmosphere during fall camp.
Spectators watched the practice while hearing from coaches throughout the afternoon. The Boilermakers have almost a week of camp behind them and are fast approaching fully padded training sessions in preparation for the Sept. 1 season opener against Penn State.
“I thought our guys came out and had a really good day for their first day of shells, put on real shoulder pads,” said Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said after practice on Friday. “It was good energy, we made some plays. Obviously there’s still a long way to go if you’re watching us.
“Just being precise in everything we do, being able to understand the little details and how important all those things are at every position. We just have to keep working on that.”
Purdue’s offense gave the fans in attendance plenty to cheer for as the unit tied on several long finishes during team practice. Deep touchdown passes to wide receivers Collin Sullivan, Mershawn rice and Charlie Jones each drew thunderous applause.
Boilermaker Secondary couldn’t record a single turnover during Friday practice as the offensive fired on all cylinders in the passing game.
“The offensive probably had one of their better days in the first three practice sessions, which will go back and forth, but there’s a lot to learn from that,” said Brohm.
It should be noted that Purdue’s cornerback room was thin with appetizers throughout fall camp Cory Trice and Jamari Braun working back from an injury. Kansas State Transfer Tea Denson missed time in spring and has yet to be fully utilized this fall.
For now transfer from Indiana ReeseTaylor is the anchor at the perimeter of the defense. He has settled in well at the Boilermakers and will be a key part of the secondary school in 2022.
“We’re still playing a couple of young boys in secondary school and it shows,” said Brohm. “We have to make these guys better and we have to get the others healthy and back on the field.”
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Trice, Brown and Denson were all spotted in pads on Friday but spent their time participating in individual workouts away from team activities. Brohm said all three were nearing entering the field.
The team expected his return in early August and will continue to work to be ready for the first game of the season.
“They’ve worked hard. Things don’t always go perfectly in rehab and I think they just have to keep working through it,” Brohm said of the trio of injured cornerbacks. “They’re in pads, they’re going to overdrive things sometimes. You just have to be careful not to overload them with volume too early because you may suffer setbacks.”
With Friday practice in the books, Purdue is nearing its second week of fall camp. Brohm said he’s glad the team hasn’t had any further injuries so far. Soon the Boilermakers will be in full pads and with that comes getting used to taking hits again.
According to NCAA guidelines, teams must complete a five-day reacclimation period during fall training camp. During the first two training sessions, players are only allowed to wear helmets. After that, players will be required to wear helmets and shoulder pads for the next three days before continuing with fully padded training.
Friday was the first day the team wore helmets and shoulder pads. Purdue will have met the conditions to proceed with fully cushioned exercises by Tuesday next week.
“Anyone can do things without pads, but that’s not really football,” Brohm said of the team, who trained for a week. “Now the pads are coming back, we just have to get used to full-speed contact, catching the ball in traffic, hitting people, coming off blocks, being physical, attending to the football – all the real football activities, have to we’ll get a lot more specific over the next few weeks.”
Full Interview with Purdue Coach Jeff Brohm
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