Lorenzo Neal taking things day by day as he works toward return to field
MORE: Training camp coverage
Purdue hoped to have Lorenzo Neal as it knows — and needs — him this training camp.
But it also knew coming in that the roughly eight-and-a-half months that have passed since his late-November ACL injury made for a short runway for recovery, and that some concessions might have to be made with his availability for practice, not only in camp, but perhaps even throughout the season.
As it has turned out, whether you'd call it a "setback" or simply a process, the senior defensive tackle and team co-captain, a key presence for a defense Purdue is counting on improvement from, has yet to practice, and Coach Jeff Brohm has already tabbed him a "game-time decision" for a season-opener at Nevada that's still more than two weeks away.
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Neal said Wednesday that his return to the practice field is more about "a feel" than any specific timeframe or benchmark.
"You push as hard as you can, but with situations like this, you never know what the timing really is," he said, "so you just have to be patient and make sure you feel better, because when you feel better every day, then you improve, but when you go back-to-back days and then you don't feel good, you can get discouraged and things like that."
He admitted, though, too, that even though he's richly experienced, it might be important for him to practice to a meaningful extent before playing. The nose tackle has previously described his positional responsibilities, and the ultra-physical nature of them, as something he values getting a feel for in practice prior to games, something he warms up toward.
"It's just about getting comfortable," Neal said. "A lot of it's mental. It's physical, but it's also mental, being comfortable with body position and feeling the weight of multiple people on top of you, short-range bursts, things like that."
There's only so much Neal can control. He's doing rehabilitation work daily, while being part of all other elements of camp beside actual practice.
To that end, he's been around the mostly younger players Purdue may have to rely on should Neal be absent to open the season, or otherwise limited.
Among those players: Sophomores Giovanni Reviere and Jeff Marks and redshirt freshman Lawrence Johnson, who Neal cited as having improved since spring. True freshman Steven Faucheux could be considered for playing time, too. Additionally, defensive line coach Reggie Johnson said Wednesday that redshirt freshman end Branson Deen is playing a role inside and fellow ends George Karlaftis and/or Kai Higgins could, as well.
Purdue's other defensive tackle spot is manned by veteran Anthony Watts.
Boilermaker coaches have options at Neal's position now, more than they did a year ago at this time, but no one option that would likely come close to mitigating Neal's absence should there be one, which is more a credit to him than anything.
Neal, at his best, is a very good player, as was clear throughout his junior season and even more clear, perhaps, when Purdue didn't have him. He was missed very much following his injury in Bloomington.
To get back to his pre-injury form, there may be more of a process involved, and based on Brohm's comments, could even mean missing the opener, at least.
"I'm doing as much as I can right now," Neal said. "I'm not really sitting here thinking, 'I'll sacrifice this month for that month' or, 'Is this worth that?' It's just taking every day as it comes, taking my time."
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