Josh Ferguson and Dan Bick have held up nicely by splitting time at middle linebacker this season, and Purdue coach Joe Tiller is happy for it.
Tiller and his staff were concerned enough about the ability of the injury-plagued combo to make it through the season that Anthony Heygood was getting reps in the middle during training camp. Heygood is the starter on the strong side.
Ferguson was coming off shoulder and hip injuries, and Bick was bothered by a neck injury. Ferguson re-injured the shoulder this season but didn't miss any time, and Bick hasn't missed a game.
They both have 46 tackles. Bick has two sacks, and Ferguson has deflected five passes.
"We felt like (Ferguson) was a good player from tackle to tackle," Tiller said. "He has some limitations the further the ball got removed from him. But we thought he was a good player from tackle to tackle, and that's been true throughout the course of the year.
"The way we've rotated them and played (Bick) mostly in nickel and dime situations has helped Bick, and the fact we haven't put him on the field and let him on the field for a full game has helped him."
Tiller isn't only pleased with the play in the middle. He also thinks starting weak-side linebacker Stanford Keglar is playing his best since he's been at Purdue. Keglar is second on the team in tackles with 51.
Tiller thinks Heygood, in his first full season at the position, will only improve, and Tiller likes how Jason Werner has progressed. Werner has been worked in slowly because of issues with his back, but he had a team-high six tackles last week and also added a sack.
- Tiller said the team came out of the Northwestern game healthy and didn't have any injuries to report Tuesday.
- No changes on the depth chart, and that includes Kory Sheets still being listed as the starter at running back. Tiller said not to make much of that designation because Jaycen Taylor still will get plenty of carries. Sheets started last week, and Taylor wound up with a game-high and career-high 20 carries.
-- By Stacy Clardie, The Journal Gazette
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