More: Sindelar targeting shorter recovery from ACL surgery ($)

David Blough is humming in his recovery from a dislocated ankle, walking without a brace, working out, rehab is going well, so, not surprisingly, the ultra-competitive quarterback has set lofty expectations.

Not that he thinks they're lofty.

Blough, the captain whose season ended abruptly in early November, projects he will be ready to return to the field when Purdue starts spring practice Feb. 26.

He also hasn't spoken to Coach Jeff Brohm about that. And Brohm told a Fort Wayne radio station earlier this week early enrollee freshman Jack Plummer would split No. 1 reps this spring with fellow true freshman Nick Sipe.

But Blough doesn't have time to be concerned about whether he'll actually play this spring. He's laser focused on recovering quickly enough to be ready to be.

“They say it’s about a 4-month recovery because we got fortunate, we didn’t have to do two surgeries with it. Sometimes, you do. We only had to do one, which is a big blessing. My goal, of course, was to participate in the spring. That is what I’m on track for. That’s my goal, in my head,” Blough said Wednesday, his first interview with local reporters since suffering the injury against Illinois. “I don’t know what Coach Brohm will say. What the training staff will say. But my goal is I want to participate in spring practice. I want to be there for (classmate) Kirk Barron and those guys who have worked hard. This is the last spring ball we’ll have together, be there in practice with them, get better, keep learning the offense and take steps forward like the team did at the end of the year. I want to continue on that and be able to practice in the spring.

“Spring practice is about six weeks from now. I think I should be pretty close to healthy or healthy and ready to go. I think I’ll be able to participate. But, at the end of the day, it’s what Coach says, what the doctors say and what the trainers say. But, if they ask me, I’m going to say, ‘Yeah, I can go.’”