Louisiana football quarterback Chandler Fields to miss first week of spring practice
Michael Desormeaux no longer has any eligibility left but the Louisiana football coach was going through individual drills with his quarterbacks throwing to wide receivers on the team's first day of spring practice Tuesday.
The former Ragin' Cajun quarterback wasn't trying to relive the glory days. Rather UL opened the spring short-handed as starting junior QB Chandler Fields sat out the session with what Desormeaux classified as a "non-football" injury that required a procedure.
Fields is expected to only miss a week. And he joined fellow quarterback Ben Wooldridge, who tore his ACL late last season, on the sideline for the Cajuns.
"Chandler will be out for about a week," Desormeaux said. "So we'll get him back for next week, which, you know, is fine."
UL RAGIN CAJUNS SPRING PREVIEWProjecting the Louisiana football starting lineup as spring practice arrives
OPTIMISM FOR LOUISIANA AFTER BOWL LOSSWhy there's optimism for Louisiana football following Independence Bowl loss
CAJUNS SCHEDULING NEWSLouisiana football releases 2023 football schedule. These are the biggest takeaways
Fields missed a handful of weeks during the season last year with a shoulder injury but was able to play in the last three games to help get the Ragin' Cajuns to a bowl game.
Freshman Zeon Chriss took the QB1 reps during the media viewing portion of the team's practice. Fields had to exit the game during Louisiana's loss to Houston in the Independence Bowl last December and Chriss spelled him, getting valuable snaps.
Lance Legendre, a former UL quarterback who made the switch to receiver right before last season, has been taking reps out of the Wildcat, Desormeaux said, to help distribute some of the practice reps while still getting in his first-team reps at wideout.
"And we've got some other guys that have played quarterback on the roster that are stepping up when they need to. But it's good for Zeon, right? He's getting a lot of reps at an accelerated pace. And then whenever we get Chandler, it'll be really good because we'll be able to split those (reps) up and those two will really be able to go at it," Desormeaux said.
"You'll be able to get a good evaluation. Whereas last year, we had seven quarterbacks in the room, I should've done a better job of distributing reps but early on, you're wide open. This year will be a little easier to get those guys the reps they need."
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers and Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU/UL athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Louisiana football QB Chandler Fields out 1st week of spring practice
