Training camp practice No. 2 notebook

MORE: Gold and Black Radio Express-5 observations from Practice No. 2

Seventy percent. That is the completion percentage that Elijah Sindelar wants to hit this season.

The 6-4, 225-pound Princeton, Ky., native has never completed better than 59 percent of his passes in a season.

"My goal is to be above 70 percent," said Sindelar. "That takes a lot of work. You have to make sure you are making the right reads and delivering the ball well and accurately.

"Not every play will be a 15 20 yards pass. You have to take shorter passes at times. As long as you are moving the ball."

Sindelar still hasn't fully reached his capabilities, making eight starts in 2017 and one last year. He claimed the No. 1 job at the start of each of the last two years. And he is the unquestioned No. 1 guy in 2019. But, each of the last two seasons, Sindelar has gotten sidetracked.

"Now that I am older and I don't have that (competition), it has been a change of pace," said Sindealr, who battled David Blough each of the last two seasons for the job. "But our coaches always say every play matters, so I try to take advantage of every snap. I think I have the same mentality as when David was here. If I do slack off, Jack (Plummer) will be right there. You have to play well every day."

Would Purdue consider playing redshirt freshman Jack Plummer each game just to get him experience? Purdue co-offensive coordinator and quarterback coach Brian Brohm said he and Jeff Brohm did such a thing at Western Kentucky in 2016, when Jeff Brohm was head coach.

Back then, Mike White was the starter for the Hilltoppers, but Jeff Brohm would bring in Tyler Ferguson for the first series of the second quarter.

“We did it the first four games,” said Brian Brohm. “We just wanted to make sure our backup had some game experience. But once White got going, we didn’t want to pull him out of games and disrupt him.”

Brian Brohm said there are no such plans this year to work in Plummer--who has yet to throw a pass--so he can get some game reps behind Elijah Sindelar, who has a history of injury.

“But we always consider a lot of options,” said Brohm.

No. 2 quarterback Jack Plummer could become a very important man, considering Elijah Sindelar’s injury history.

Sindelar played in just two games last year, as oblique and knee issues kept him out the final 11 contests. The year before, he injured his left knee. And he hyper-extended that same knee in the spring. There is no David Blough to rescue Purdue if Sindelar goes down in 2019. Plummer—a redshirt freshman from Gilbert, Ariz.—would be the man. And, he’s ready.

“I feel confident to play,” said Plummer. “I came here to play, I want to play, that is the dream, that is the goal. I am excited to go in.”

The 6-5, 220-pound Plummer took part in spring drills and impressed. What has he improved on since then?

“I am getting better at completing the deep balls, the go route,” said Plummer. “I think I can move around a lilt bit and extend plays. I think what I’m getting really good at is knowing what the defense is. I have been here a while and I can start to see trends of what the defense is gonna do. I am starting to pick up what the defense is gonna do before the snap.”

Purdue has many promising freshmen is the Class of 2019. But none have stood out as much as defensive end George Karlaftis.

The West Lafayette High School product was put with the No. 1 defense the moment he arrived on campus for spring ball. And he hasn’t looked back. What’s his role in 2019?

“A guy to bring a pass rush, good energy, stop the run, set an edge, do whatever my coaches ask me,” said Karlaftis, who says he has added probably 60 pounds on his bench and probably 200 pounds on his squat since arriving at Purdue.

Karlaftis has some freshman running mates up front, including Dontay Hunter and Sulaiman Kpaka at end and Steve Faucheux at tackle.

“They all are looking good,” said the 6-4, 265-pound Karlaftis. “We will work hard. The potential is there.”

Karlaftis' goal this season?

“Win the Big Ten championship,” he said. “I have spent countless hours in the weight room, extra film study, technique work, all of that kind of stuff, trying to fix up what I had done wrong in the spring.”

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