As Lorenzo Neal nears full strength, Purdue aims to keep him that way
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CHICAGO — Lorenzo Neal's job description, as it is for most interior defensive linemen like him, is not for the meek, faint of heart or passive.
It's an existence of constant face-to-face collisions occurring in as confined a space as can be, an activity he says he builds up toward in practice the week before games, and that's where a delicate balance may have to be found this season between readying Neal to play, but also making sure one of Purdue's most important and irreplaceable presences is healthy.
The Boilermaker veteran is coming off an ACL injury that ended his junior season in the Big Ten finale at Indiana. His absence in the Music City Bowl was very apparent.
"Part of my role, it being a very physical role, it's something I have to experience (during the week)," Neal said. "Going into games cold — while you might be rested and not feeling the effects of practicing that week — it's more difficult to just get it going. It's not like I'm just running in open space. Everything I do is within four yards and happening in split seconds, and I have to mentally and physically prepare myself for that the week before."
This season, he may have to adjust his routine, he concedes. He and Coach Jeff Brohm, he said, have already spoken about how his practice regimen may have to change this season, that at this stage of his career, with his experience and circumstances alike, it may just be about getting him to the games.
Brohm figures Neal will regain optimal pre-injury form before long, if he hasn't already, but nevertheless will keep close watch on him in training camp, perhaps even limiting him early on.
For his part, Neal says, "It's not what I can do, but what I do" at this point, a nod to prudence, to not over-doing things, pushing too hard, then worrying about the fallout thereafter. The last thing Neal wants to encounter is days-after soreness or fatigue building up when it matters most — during the season.
And again, during the season, should any red flags surface, or even if they don't, those Tuesday or Wednesday practices probably aren't as important now as they were before.
"Practice is important," Neal said, "but it's not as important (for me) for the same reasons it is for the younger guys."
So, he expects an ongoing dialogue this season between him, Brohm, defensive line coach Reggie Johnson and trainers in hopes of striking the proper balance.
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Purdue needs him as close to full strength as possible as much as possible, as he's already a player who's been asked to carry a snap-load that might belie his body type. According to Pro Football Focus, the 320-some-pound Neal played 711 snaps last season, averaging 64 per game in the 11 full games he played before getting hurt after just seven plays at IU. PFF snap-count data shows Neal's play total for a season cut short ranking among national leaders for players categorized as defensive tackle/nose tackle.
Neal bore a robust workload, and it spoke not only to his importance and ability, but also depth, of which Purdue didn't have much, and still doesn't.
It's imperative for the Boilermakers this season to improve defensively following their inexperience-fueled turbulence of last season. Defensive improvement through experience is probably where Purdue's one-year-to-the-next upside lies most.
But for the defense to be as effective as hoped, Brohm says, it must be more disruptive at the line of scrimmage, and Neal is Purdue's foremost presence in that regard, the massive and powerful, yet surprisingly quick and nimble, nose tackle that affects games far more than box scores, the player who should command the most schematic attention from opposing offenses this season. That extra blocker Neal might carry is one fewer that leading-tackler Markus Bailey, or whoever it may be, has to worry about.
Such is life sometimes for defensive tackles. It's a relatively glory-free role sometimes, but a critical one nonetheless. It certainly is for Purdue.
"He is our most experienced guy up front and he's been our most productive, and for us to do well, he has to play well," Brohm said. "And we have to get some other guys ready just in case something should happen."
That's the other end of Neal's importance: Purdue's options. They're all unproven, to put it one way. The drop-off from A to B might be considerable.
So Purdue may feel compelled to do whatever is needed to get Neal through the season healthy, which on an aside, Brohm believes would help his NFL stock.
As is, that standing might be favorable, as Neal has generated some notoriety this off-season as a potential first-round sort of prospect.
Had that ACL not given out after just a handful of snaps in Bloomington, ending his season a game shy of its conclusion and sidelining him for the months that followed, he might have had a decision to make.
"I think hindsight's 20/20 and maybe had I been healthy, I would have had a decision to make," Neal said. "But the way the bowl game went last year, had I played in that, I probably would have ended up staying anyway.
"I want to go to NFL. That's everybody's dream and I think I can do it and I think I can be great at it, but I do care about this team, and I want to leave Purdue from a team that's remembered on the level of Drew Brees (teams) and the great teams we've had, Bob Griese and all those guys."
For Purdue to do such a thing, it needs Neal in something close to peak form, and to keep him that way, maybe by any means necessary.
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