Tulane QB Sullivan leaves Thursday’s practice with lower leg injury, early x-rays negative

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – Tulane’s three-man quarterback competition got an uninvited guest Thursday afternoon: The injury bug.

Iowa-transfer Brendan Sullivan suffered a right lower leg injury, during goal line, 11-on-11 drills in the Green Wave’s Thursday practice, but head coach Jon Sumrall received early reports, while still on the field, the quarterback’s X-rays came back negative.

“In the middle of practice, they came over and told me ‘hey, X-ray looks fine.’ I saw him limping and I’m like ‘get him out.’ I’m good. I’ve seen him do enough right now that I didn’t need to see him fight through,” Sumrall explained.

While Sullivan has avoided a serious injury so far, the quarterback goes down at the wrong time. The Michigan native has been at the forefront of Tulane’s three-man QB competition, and Sumrall still remains confident in what Jake Retzlaff and Kadin Semonza can do.

“Jake has got the ability to create plays, extend plays on his feet. He’s one of those guys that makes big throws, a lot of times it feels like in big moments. He’s doing as good a job as you could do on short time. Kadin’s really good at the operational stuff. He knows where to go with the football typically, and he’s done some good things in his own right,” the head coach added.

Quarterback is not the only position the Green Wave have been evaluating though. Former Brother Martin QB Garrett Mmahat has been a Tulane wide receiver over the past two seasons, and after earning a scholarship this past June, the passer-turned-pass catcher has a chance at significant playing time on the outside.

“The goal was always to follow up with it. Scholarship was a great, great part of it, but I’m not done. That was just the beginning, really. I feel like I have a bigger vision for myself in mind, and these coaches, I’m just so grateful that they’re helping me out for it,” Mmahat said.

Mmahat has been flashing throughout fall camp against a Tulane defense with only three returning starters, including senior safety Bailey Despanie.

The Carencro native has been instrumental in helping the new Green Wave players get acclimated Uptown, and becoming a more vocal leader has been the biggest part of Despanie’s growth.

“I’m not really that much of a talkative guy, but me and Coach Sumrall, we sat down and said ‘look, this is what has to be done for us to get to this championship, to do the things that we want to do.’ I was all-aboard for it,” Despanie said.

“I think he’s starting to find more confidence and be like hey I need to be the guy that speaks up a little more. In the past, maybe a couple of years ago here, Jarius Monroe or you had other guys that may be the vocal guy. I think he has recognized and understands. He saw last year. Tyler Grubbs was one of those guys, was very vocal. I think our defense needs him to be, and I think he has become more of a mouthpiece, if you will,” Sumrall added.

Tulane practiced at the Saints indoor facility on Thursday, and the Green Wave will hold their second scrimmage of fall camp Saturday morning.

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