A tip of the cap to @Scavenger, who pointed out in another thread that Jarek Broussard appeared to be without his knee brace on. I checked in with both Karl Dorrell and Broussard today on that note and can confirm that he's ditched it. Great news.
...
After rushing for 813 yards in just five regular season games last fall, a performance that earned him Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year honors, suffice to say that Jarek Broussard more than proved himself healed following his recovery from the second ACL tear of his football career.
Even so, Karl Dorrell and Darian Hagan would joke with him frequently for getting tracked down short of the endzone on a few long breakaway runs he had during the 2020 campaign, a result, they ribbed him, from the brace holding him back.
Eventually, Broussard was going to take the brace off, but per Dorrell, he did so almost immediately after Colorado's loss in the Alamo Bowl.
Through the Buffs' winter workouts until now, two days into CU's 15 spring practices, Broussard has been without the knee brace.
“Ever since we started offseason (workouts) he hasn’t worn it," Dorrell said. "He’s got rid of the Linus blanket and I haven’t seen it since the season. He’s been training this whole offseason without it. He looks fabulous, he looks faster — which is what we all anticipated he would be without a brace — he looks good. He shed it after the Texas game and I haven’t seen it since.”
One torn ACL is grueling enough in terms of the injury and recovery that follows but suffering multiple ACL injuries adds a new dimension to it all.
That's the reality Broussard faced, as he tore his ACL for the first time during his senior year at Bishop Lynch High School in the Dallas/Ft. Worth suburbs, and again in September of 2019, ending his redshirt freshman year at CU after a promising performance during that spring.
At any rate, the damage Broussard did to opposing defenses in 2020 more than confirmed he had physically recovered from his second ACL tear.
Now, shedding the protective knee brace affirms he's taken a new step in the mental part of recovering from the injury.
At least, that's the perception from the outside looking in: when the leg brace comes off, it seems indicative of the injury being more and more in the rearview mirror.
For Broussard, he felt confident running with it on and even more so now that he's getting a feel for his abilities without it.
“The confidence is already there — I was never really worried about the brace, but just going throughout the winter workout period, I did it all without my brace on," he said. "I feel like my cuts are pretty fluid, I feel faster, so the confidence I feel like is going to get better.”
As last season ended and winter workouts began, Broussard took time to dissect what he did on the gridiron through Colorado's six-game season.
Now, he can compare how a few days of organized practices have gone for him without the brace on.
“Looking at film from last year, I noticed the brace restricted me in a lot of things," he said. "This spring, I’m going without the brace to how to see how different (it is). I feel a lot better, I feel a lot faster, so right now, it’s going good.”
....
The scouting report is out on Broussard, but wow, the possibilities of what he can do now that the brace is no longer a factor seem endless. He could be primed to torch defenses even more so than he did last year.
....
Karl Dorrell did not mince words when detailing the personnel situation Colorado is facing this spring at offensive line: it's a bit tight.
The injury bug took its toll on CU's offensive line during last season and also in its aftermath, requiring a number of players to undergo offseason surgeries, a main culprit of the team's lack of depth through these 15 spring practices, of which now two have been completed.
“We’re not real deep at the offensive line in terms of practice players right now because guys are recovering from postseason surgeries," Dorrell said. "We’re not as deep as we normally would be...we have some guys that are coming in in the summer, that are going to add some depth as we go, but it’s one of those positions that aren’t as deep right now due to guys recovering to surgery.”
Dorrell indicated that walk-ons Jack Seavall (Fr.) and John Dietchmann (So.) have been seeing extra snaps and playing time in an attempt to plug some of those holes, but overall, 10 scholarship offensive linemen are available and healthy enough to practice.
Those players are: Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan (Fr.), Frank Fillip (So.), Austin Johnson (Fr.) Josh Jynes (So.), Kary Kutsch (Sr.), Carson Lee (Fr.), Colby Pursell (Jr.), Kanan Ray (So.), Valentin Senn (Fr.) and Jake Wiley (Fr.).
Junior Chance Lytle, who was lost last fall at Arizona to a serious leg injury, is making good progress with his recovery but won't be available this spring.
"Chance Lytle is out of the boot," Dorrell said. "He was in a boot for a considerable amount of time until this week. I saw him lifting in the weight room and doing squats yesterday, so he’s gradually getting himself back into playing shape but he’s still a ways away. It’ll be sometime this summer before he’s back in full."
Sophomore Casey Roddick is also out this spring with an undisclosed medical condition but Dorrell said he expects him back "in a short period of time."
Finally, freshman Nikko Pohahau is a non-participant this spring due to offseason shoulder surgery.
While the injuries have certainly thinned things out for Dorrell as he navigates his first spring, there is also the matter of replacing second-team All-Pac-12 left tackle Will Sherman, who recently declared for the NFL Draft.
Dorrell has opted to move Fillip, who started every game at right tackle last year, over to the left.
“He is practicing at the left tackle position right now and doing really well," Dorrell said. "He’s excited about it and loves the challenge and what that brings. I think he’s very confident about the year he had last year in 2020 and carrying it over to doing better things in 2021. He’s excited."
Wiley has been practicing mostly at right tackle with Senn has been shifting between tackle and guard.
In terms of guard, Kutsch is back to his normal spot on the left side after subbing in at center last year for Pursell, who is healthy and back to center, was lost to injury. Jynes has also been switching time between guard and center.
“We really right now have 10 healthy players to give us a two-deep at o-lineman in terms of a one line and a two line.," Dorrell said. "We have just enough to get through practice right now with a two-deep, but it's a good two-deep."
.....
10 scholarship players available with 13 practices left is definitely razor thing. Can't afford more guys going down. Not sure what Roddick's condition is but Dorrell seemed to indicate that he'll be expected back shortly after spring ball ends. Lytle, per Dorrell, will be more so looking towards the summer.
Probably for the best that some of these guys get experience playing multiple positions and on a separate note, this is exactly the reason why walk-ons are so important. Even if the likes of Seavall and Deitchmann wind up plugging some holes for the spring and fade a bit into the background come fall, they'll have played an important role for the team nonetheless.
...
After rushing for 813 yards in just five regular season games last fall, a performance that earned him Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year honors, suffice to say that Jarek Broussard more than proved himself healed following his recovery from the second ACL tear of his football career.
Even so, Karl Dorrell and Darian Hagan would joke with him frequently for getting tracked down short of the endzone on a few long breakaway runs he had during the 2020 campaign, a result, they ribbed him, from the brace holding him back.
Eventually, Broussard was going to take the brace off, but per Dorrell, he did so almost immediately after Colorado's loss in the Alamo Bowl.
Through the Buffs' winter workouts until now, two days into CU's 15 spring practices, Broussard has been without the knee brace.
“Ever since we started offseason (workouts) he hasn’t worn it," Dorrell said. "He’s got rid of the Linus blanket and I haven’t seen it since the season. He’s been training this whole offseason without it. He looks fabulous, he looks faster — which is what we all anticipated he would be without a brace — he looks good. He shed it after the Texas game and I haven’t seen it since.”
One torn ACL is grueling enough in terms of the injury and recovery that follows but suffering multiple ACL injuries adds a new dimension to it all.
That's the reality Broussard faced, as he tore his ACL for the first time during his senior year at Bishop Lynch High School in the Dallas/Ft. Worth suburbs, and again in September of 2019, ending his redshirt freshman year at CU after a promising performance during that spring.
At any rate, the damage Broussard did to opposing defenses in 2020 more than confirmed he had physically recovered from his second ACL tear.
Now, shedding the protective knee brace affirms he's taken a new step in the mental part of recovering from the injury.
At least, that's the perception from the outside looking in: when the leg brace comes off, it seems indicative of the injury being more and more in the rearview mirror.
For Broussard, he felt confident running with it on and even more so now that he's getting a feel for his abilities without it.
“The confidence is already there — I was never really worried about the brace, but just going throughout the winter workout period, I did it all without my brace on," he said. "I feel like my cuts are pretty fluid, I feel faster, so the confidence I feel like is going to get better.”
As last season ended and winter workouts began, Broussard took time to dissect what he did on the gridiron through Colorado's six-game season.
Now, he can compare how a few days of organized practices have gone for him without the brace on.
“Looking at film from last year, I noticed the brace restricted me in a lot of things," he said. "This spring, I’m going without the brace to how to see how different (it is). I feel a lot better, I feel a lot faster, so right now, it’s going good.”
....
The scouting report is out on Broussard, but wow, the possibilities of what he can do now that the brace is no longer a factor seem endless. He could be primed to torch defenses even more so than he did last year.
....
Karl Dorrell did not mince words when detailing the personnel situation Colorado is facing this spring at offensive line: it's a bit tight.
The injury bug took its toll on CU's offensive line during last season and also in its aftermath, requiring a number of players to undergo offseason surgeries, a main culprit of the team's lack of depth through these 15 spring practices, of which now two have been completed.
“We’re not real deep at the offensive line in terms of practice players right now because guys are recovering from postseason surgeries," Dorrell said. "We’re not as deep as we normally would be...we have some guys that are coming in in the summer, that are going to add some depth as we go, but it’s one of those positions that aren’t as deep right now due to guys recovering to surgery.”
Dorrell indicated that walk-ons Jack Seavall (Fr.) and John Dietchmann (So.) have been seeing extra snaps and playing time in an attempt to plug some of those holes, but overall, 10 scholarship offensive linemen are available and healthy enough to practice.
Those players are: Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan (Fr.), Frank Fillip (So.), Austin Johnson (Fr.) Josh Jynes (So.), Kary Kutsch (Sr.), Carson Lee (Fr.), Colby Pursell (Jr.), Kanan Ray (So.), Valentin Senn (Fr.) and Jake Wiley (Fr.).
Junior Chance Lytle, who was lost last fall at Arizona to a serious leg injury, is making good progress with his recovery but won't be available this spring.
"Chance Lytle is out of the boot," Dorrell said. "He was in a boot for a considerable amount of time until this week. I saw him lifting in the weight room and doing squats yesterday, so he’s gradually getting himself back into playing shape but he’s still a ways away. It’ll be sometime this summer before he’s back in full."
Sophomore Casey Roddick is also out this spring with an undisclosed medical condition but Dorrell said he expects him back "in a short period of time."
Finally, freshman Nikko Pohahau is a non-participant this spring due to offseason shoulder surgery.
While the injuries have certainly thinned things out for Dorrell as he navigates his first spring, there is also the matter of replacing second-team All-Pac-12 left tackle Will Sherman, who recently declared for the NFL Draft.
Dorrell has opted to move Fillip, who started every game at right tackle last year, over to the left.
“He is practicing at the left tackle position right now and doing really well," Dorrell said. "He’s excited about it and loves the challenge and what that brings. I think he’s very confident about the year he had last year in 2020 and carrying it over to doing better things in 2021. He’s excited."
Wiley has been practicing mostly at right tackle with Senn has been shifting between tackle and guard.
In terms of guard, Kutsch is back to his normal spot on the left side after subbing in at center last year for Pursell, who is healthy and back to center, was lost to injury. Jynes has also been switching time between guard and center.
“We really right now have 10 healthy players to give us a two-deep at o-lineman in terms of a one line and a two line.," Dorrell said. "We have just enough to get through practice right now with a two-deep, but it's a good two-deep."
.....
10 scholarship players available with 13 practices left is definitely razor thing. Can't afford more guys going down. Not sure what Roddick's condition is but Dorrell seemed to indicate that he'll be expected back shortly after spring ball ends. Lytle, per Dorrell, will be more so looking towards the summer.
Probably for the best that some of these guys get experience playing multiple positions and on a separate note, this is exactly the reason why walk-ons are so important. Even if the likes of Seavall and Deitchmann wind up plugging some holes for the spring and fade a bit into the background come fall, they'll have played an important role for the team nonetheless.
