Purdue turns to Swingler, Mendez with Hermanns out for, maybe, the season

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Mike Mendez was feeling settled at guard.

Again.

But an injury forced the sophomore to adjust.

Again.

For the second consecutive season, Mendez had to bounce from his preferred interior position on the offensive line to cover for an injured teammate at left tackle. Last season, it was Cameron Cermin. Last week, it was for redshirt freshman Grant Hermanns. In Cermin’s stead, Mendez started three consecutive games before Cermin returned — and Mendez got hurt. It could be a longer-term project again for Mendez with Jeff Brohm revealing Tuesday that Hermanns’ left knee would keep Hermanns out a “considerable amount of time and, possibly, it could be for the year.”

That potential season-ending injury is a significant blow to Purdue’s offense, one that has been struggling of late but was learning to count on Hermanns as a high-volume snap player. Not anymore.

“Grant Hermanns was a redshirt freshman, but he was one of our better offensive linemen,” Brohm said on the Big Ten teleconference. “I think he’s got a bright future. He was getting better, working through a few things, but getting better. Without him, it’s a big loss for us.”

Brohm said Purdue has two options: Eric Swingler, who started at Rutgers, and Mendez.

“There’s probably no one else we’ll turn to,” Brohm said. “Those two, we’ve just got to stick with them and work hard with them, getting better and figuring out things and just try to improve.

“Eric Swinger has stepped in and did a decent job, but he needs to continue to work and get better. … (Mendez has) got some decent feet and a little more athleticism than some of the others we have. So we felt he would be the next-best guy at that position. We’ll probably continue to work it that way this week as well.”

Swingler started and played without a break into the third quarter in Piscataway, N.J. But on a third-and-nine late in the third, Swingler got beat in pass protection — Rutgers had only a three-man rush — and that forced Elijah Sindelar to throw the ball sooner than he wanted. The pass went incomplete, and Sindelar got drilled after the throw by the player who’d gotten past Swingler. Mendez came in on the next offensive series and finished the game. He was in on Purdue's lone touchdown drive.

It was a place he'd been before but one he didn't think he'd be again.

In the spring, Mendez ran with the starters at left guard and he fought to keep that position in camp with newcomer Shane Evans, a graduate transfer from Northern Illinois. Evans ultimately won the job and has started all seven games. Mendez spelled Evans at points this season but not for significant snaps.

So when coaches approached Mendez after Hermanns re-injured his knee at Wisconsin — Hermanns initially hurt it against Missouri but played through the sprain for three games — Mendez saw it almost as a second chance after losing the left guard starting job.

"It was disappointing, but Shane came in and he proved himself. It’s a production game. All I could do was be there for him if he ever went down," said Mendez, who came to Purdue as a left guard in 2015 but also has played center and tackle. "I understood when the coach put me down (on the depth chart). Now I’m at left tackle, and I’m trying to beat Swingler.

"This practice was just intense. Everybody was flying around. Swingler was throwing bodies. I was trying to get there, too. I want to start. That’s the goal. But then again, it’s a production business. Whoever coach trusts more, that’s who will start. Then if Swingler does bad in the game, then I’ll step up and we’ll just tag-team."

Mendez is playing at 295 pounds and has a basketball background, so he may be more athletic than some of Purdue's other options. That can serve him well blocking faster edge rushers, but he'll also need to make sure he uses that in the run game, too. Purdue had Swingler on the move last week in the run game, getting ahead of backs to block, so it's definitely an element the coaches want.

In terms of pass protection, Mendez is kind of drawing from muscle memory to get the footwork back down at left tackle, which he called a "different animal" than guard because it's playing in a confined space vs. on an island.

But his most significant game experience against Big Ten opponents also is at left tackle, so he's able to draw confidence from that, too. And this time, he's anticipating playing. For his first start at left tackle — at Nebraska, this week's opponent, last year — he was told five minutes before the game, he said.

"At least this time, I have a week to practice. I’m a little anticipating it now, so it won’t catch me off guard," he said. "I thought (Tuesday) at practice, I was going to go left guard (some), but Peyton Truitt took the (backup) reps. It helped me because I need to study Nebraska’s defense. I think from now on, I’ll probably just be left tackle.

"I’ve switched around so many times. When Coach asked me, I was like, ‘OK, yeah. I’ll show up. I’ll do it for you.’ It was just natural for me."

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