Injury Report: Key players still out for Purdue
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Much of Jeff Brohm's Monday gathering with the media dealt with injuries to his Purdue football team. That's no different from last week, or the week before, or the week before that.
It's been that kind of year for the Boilermakers.
It was more of the same after Saturday's 35-7 loss to Penn State. The list of injured players is still very long, with Maryland next on the horizon Saturday at Ross-Ade Stadium.
Some position groups have been hit harder than others. Here’s a list of players that are out or in question for Saturday’s game against Maryland:
- Wide receivers: Rondale Moore, week-to-week; Jared Sparks, questionable; TJ Sheffield, out.
- Running backs: Richie Worship and Tario Fuller, doubtful.
- Defensive tackles: Lorenzo Neal and Anthony Watts, out.
- Cornerbacks: Jordan Rucker, out.
Let's take a look at how these injuries change the rotation at those four positions:
Wide receivers
The wide receiver group is really banged up, so we will see a lot of David Bell, Jackson Anthrop and Amad Anderson again this week against Maryland. With a lack of depth now, they’ll each be asked to do a lot.
Brohm mentioned in his news conference on Monday that the receivers began getting tired against Penn State because they were all in for so many plays. With no one to relieve them, we’re going to see a lot of these three once again against Maryland.
Running backs
According to Brohm, both Worship and Fuller have returned to practice and are progressing, but they still aren't ready to see game action as of now. For that reason, the run game will continue to be led by freshman King Doerue, who had a breakout game against Minnesota two weeks ago, recording 126 total yards and three touchdowns.
Doerue had a rough day against Penn State. He finished with just 26 yards on 11 carries. With Purdue's offensive line struggles, it’s hard to put all the blame on Doerue, but Purdue will need to get more out of him to compete week in and week out. Until Worship and Fuller return, it’s Doerue’s backfield.
Defensive tackles
With Neal still not ready to return and the new injury to Watts, the defensive tackle rotation will consist of Kai Higgins, Lawrence Johnson and Jack Sullivan. All three saw playing time after the injury to Watts early in the Penn State game.
After struggling early, the defensive line figured things out and limited an impressive Penn State offense after its initial 28-0 outburst.. Until Neal returns, these three will be tasked with creating pressure and closing up the middle of the field for the Boilermakers.
Cornerbacks
Rucker, who was supposed to start at cornerback against Penn State, was injured on the opening kickoff. In his place we saw the secondary led by Cory Trice, Kenneth Major and Dedrick Mackey. That will continue to be the case this week, along with Jalen Graham seeing time at the nickel corner position.
Like the defensive line, the secondary looked better in the second half of Saturday’s game. If they can limit the big plays, they can have success against a Maryland team that likes to run the ball.
