Byrd, Simpson sidelined

Purdue's opened its first-ever set of summer practices down a couple bodies.

Coach Matt Painter said Monday morning that senior D.J. Byrd has been sidelined with a stress fracture in his leg, while freshman Jay Simpson remains mostly idled after undergoing surgery on a broken foot prior to arriving at Purdue.

The coach said he's keeping both issues in perspective.

In the case of Byrd, the condition was discovered weeks ago.

"We were able to catch it a couple weeks ago and he's been in a boot ever since," said Painter, whose program has a new trainer in Chad Young, who came from Bowling Green along with new Boilermaker director of sports medicine Doug Boersma. "He gets out of his boot (Tuesday), I think. We expect him to practice. We're just really being cautious."

The same can be said for Simpson, who's participated in some strength and conditioning work, but remains on the periphery of actual basketball practice activities.

"He's still in a boot, and I don't know much past that," Painter said of the 6-foot-8 forward. "They've said everything has gone as planned in his rehab to get back. I'd expect that by the middle of July, he'll be working toward getting back. I don't know if he'll practice that first day in the middle of July with us, but he'll slowly but surely get back into the fold.

"But I'm not really concerned. As a coach, I've been through a lot of these injuries. We play our games in the winter. You have to keep that in perspective. I don't think there's a rush, especially with a young guy and especially with a big guy. We want to make sure he's healthy, first and foremost."

On July 16, Purdue begins practice for its August exhibition tour of Italy.

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