Sindelar's "tweaked" knee underscores need to develop backup quarterbacks

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There were some notable performances in Saturday’s scrimmage, headed by a strong effort by wideout Amad Anderson, Jr. But the big news came afterwards, when Jeff Brohm gave the reason why quarterback Elijah Sindelar didn’t take part in the scrimmage: He has hurt his left knee--the same one he injured in 2017.

“Elijah tweaked his knee, a little hyper-extension,” said Brohm. “It’s unfortunate. He was having a good camp. But he is somebody we are gonna have to police more and make sure we get him to the game healthy and do everything precautionary to make sure that happens, so he will be out probably the rest of the spring. And we’ll get him healthy and ready to go.”

Sindelar hadn’t practiced on the Friday leading into the scrimmage. At the time, no reason was given from Purdue media relations personnel when asked about Sindelar’s absence. Sindelar did practice on Tuesday last week.

The 6-4, 225-pound senior from Kentucky wasn’t the only quarterback out on Saturday. Sophomore Nick Sipe also missed the scrimmage. He has been dealing with a back issue that has kept him out most of this spring. That left redshirt freshman Jack Plummer to run the first-team and sophomore walk-on Aidan O’Connell to lead the second-team. True freshman early enrollee Paul Piferi also saw action in the scrimmage.

This development for Sindelar—along with Sipe’s cranky back—isn’t good news and underscores the need to make sure Plummer is ready to go. Sipe is the only other signal-caller on the roster who has attempted a pass in a game, throwing and completing one while playing in two games last season in mop-up duty.

Should Sindelar go down this fall, Plummer probably would be the the next quarterback up. Would Brohm feel confident if he had to start the 6-5, 215-pound Plummer?

“Yes, we would,” said Brohm. “Now, he’s gonna miss one here and there and make a few mistakes, possibly. But he has made very good progress. He has done some very good things in practice. It carried over in the scrimmage at times. Would we like him to do it more? Yes, but that’s any young quarterback. He’s still a freshman. He works extremely hard and we would have no hesitation in putting him in. We have no hesitation putting Aidan O’Connel in.”

Like Plummer, the 6-3, 210-pound O’Connell has been impressive all spring.

"Aidan has done a very good job,” said Brohm. “He is a guy who has worked extremely hard and he has a great attitude, is a great teammate and he has produced and he has made plays. What we have to do with him is continue to make sure he doesn’t make bad decisions, bad plays. But as far as being efficient, and completing a high percentage of throws and being able to throw the ball accurately and throw it down field, he has done a very good job. He is definitely in the mix. He is a guy we feel like he has shown us we can count on him.”

While Plummer and O’Connell have promise, Purdue’s best chance for success figures to be with Sindelar on the field. He has made nine career starts and has been the team’s starter entering each of the last two seasons. Sindelar could be poised for a big season, given the skill talent that will surround him.

But Sindelar's left knee is worrisome. He heroically played the final three-and-half games of 2017 with a torn ACL in that knee, leading the Boilermakers to a bowl game after David Blough was lost for the season after suffering an ankle injury. Sindelar finished the season hitting 187-of-329 passes for 2,099 yards with 18 TDs and seven picks.

He opened 2018 as the starter and played in the first two games. But an injured oblique and tendinitis in his left knee sidelined Sindelar for the final 11 games. He threw just 44 passes for 283 yards with two TDs and three picks last season.

Sindelar's cause to stay healthy would be aided by having a strong line. But that unit remains a work in progress. The front has veteran tackles in Grant Hermanns (left) and Matt McCann (right). But two new guards and a center are being broken in. Redshirt freshman Jimmy McKenna (left guard) and sophomore Mark Stickford (right guard) have been working with the first-team most of this spring, while sophomore Sam Garvin has been the No. 1 center.

But things could change. Brohm would like sophomore Viktor Beach to win the center job, but he has missed most of this spring with a back issue. The good news: Beach took part in Saturday’s scrimmage and looks poised to finish the spring on the field with the team. Purdue also could add a grad transfer to help up front.

"Viktor is a guy that we want to get ready to play for us,” said Brohm. “It’s unfortunate he has had a back injury. We want to make sure it doesn’t happen again. So while we want to get him reps and get him going, he may not be able to use this spring as productively as we want other than making sure we know exactly what he has and monitoring it on the field and in the training room so it doesn’t pop up again. While he needs repetitions, we have to get him healthy. It’s good he is getting back and getting some reps.”

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