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I love our someone will call a player he doesn't know a 'piece of shit' on a message board. Shows a lot of class. He calls Brohm fragile? Why? Because of the ACL tear? That is only injury, read on

In the Cards

With Brohm back from injury, Louisville looking up

Posted: Friday April 21, 2006 12:19PM; Updated: Friday April 21, 2006 5:59PM

	Brian Brohm is ahead of schedule on his rehab from a torn ACL. Bob Rosato/SI
	*national rank

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It was a sight Louisville fans came to enjoy countless times last season and are looking forward to many more times this fall. Few, however, would have expected to see it this spring.

During a sun-drenched practice at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium on Wednesday, quarterback Brian Brohm dropped back in the pocket, stopped, planted his feet and unleashed a bullet-point throw to streaking receiver Mario Urrutia about 30 yards downfield.

There were no offensive or defensive linemen on the play, mind you, and Brohm, wearing a yellow noncontact jersey, would be relegated to spectator moments later when the Cardinals broke into regular 11-on-11 situations. That the nation's second-ranked passer last season is practicing at all this spring, however, is considered something of a minor miracle.

"It's amazing watching him," said Urrutia. "I think he could come back and play a game right now."

Louisville's coaches and trainers aren't allowing Brohm to participate in live action, like Friday night's spring game, just yet. After all, he is technically recovering from a torn ACL.

Not that you'd know it watching him throw passes or run on the sideline during practice.

"If someone had asked me back when I got hurt if I was going to do anything in spring practice, I would have said no way," said the rising junior. "But I don't even feel it when I'm [passing]. I'm getting pretty close to 100 percent."

Brohm, Louisville's homegrown hero and former USA Today high school Offensive Player of the Year, didn't disappoint in his much-anticipated debut as the Cardinals' starting quarterback last season. In 10 games, he completed 68.8 percent of his passes for 2,883 yards, 19 touchdowns and just five interceptions to lead Louisville to its first New Year's Day bowl berth (the Gator Bowl) in 15 years.

In the third quarter of a Thanksgiving weekend game against Syracuse, however, Brohm, while attempting to scramble for a first down, was dragged down awkwardly from behind by Orange linebacker Kellen Pruitt. When his right foot planted, his right knee twisted, sending Brohm shriveling to the ground in a scream of pain.

"I felt the pop," said Brohm. "I didn't know exactly what it was, but I knew it wasn't something good. When I was sitting on the table on the sideline, the doctor told me I probably tore my ACL. They knew right away."

It was a devastating blow both for Brohm — who had never before experienced a major injury — and the Cardinals, who were forced to play their final regular season game and bowl game against Virginia Tech with walk-on Hunter Cantwell at quarterback. "It was unfortunate," said head coach Bobby Petrino. "Brian was starting to get real hot right before the injury."

Normally patients with a torn ACL are instructed to wait several weeks before undergoing surgery in order to allow the trauma to dissipate, but Brohm, concerned about recovering in time for this season, underwent his procedure on Dec. 5, just nine days after the injury. He also opted for a newer form of the surgery in which a tendon from a cadaver, rather than one's own knee, is used to construct the graft in order to form a more accurate replica.

	Running back Michael Bush gives the Cardinals a balanced attack. Bill Frakes/SI

While performing the procedure, Dr. David Caborn discovered additional damage — a torn meniscus, sprained patellar tendon and bruised bone — that would make Brohm's recovery period extremely strenuous.

"Those first four or five weeks were a little touch and go," said head trainer Dwayne Treolo. "He was in a lot of pain, we weren't getting a whole lot of motion back, and we were getting kind of concerned. You'd see him limping around, down in the dumps, and you start wondering, Is he ever going to be right?"

The pain subsided after about a month, however, upon which Brohm began a rigorous rehabilitation process, working with Treolo three to four hours a day, seven days a week, to regain his full range of motion. They set a target date of Feb. 1 for Brohm to resume throwing, albeit from a stationary period. Almost as soon as he began, though, the QB found he could perform a three-step drop without problem. Soon it was five steps. Then seven steps. By the end of February he was throwing to receivers rather than trainers.

"The biggest key is there was never any swelling," said Treolo. "I've done a lot of ACLs, and without exception there were always days you had to back off people because we were doing more than they could handle. I've never once had to back off with him."

Since spring practices began, Brohm has shifted much of his rehab work to the sideline. When the team is going through contact drills or scrimmaging, Brohm can be found on the sideline riding a bike, jumping rope or running with a harness.

That's only about half the time, though. The rest of the time he's out there throwing, the only visible sign of his injury a black knee brace he reluctantly wears. In addition to working on precision and timing with his receivers, Petrino added a new drill during 7-on-7s where the linebackers and safeties show various blitzes so Brohm can work on his recognition skills.

"He puts in a full day's work," said Petrino.

The last remaining hurdle for Brohm is to regain his full strength in the injured leg. Treolo measures his progress on a Biodex isokinetics machine, in which the goal is for the muscles in the right leg to be at 90 percent strength compared to the left. When tested on Tuesday, Brohm's right quads were up to 74 percent; his hamstrings were equal.

"He'll do a normal summer just like everybody else," said Treolo. "He'll run with the rest of the team, he'll lift with the rest of the team. He's ready to throw the brace off."

With Brohm's health seemingly secure, Cardinals fans can breathe easier and begin salivating over their team's offensive possibilities for 2006. Louisville has been one of the nation's most explosive teams throughout Petrino's tenure, but with the return of both Brohm and fellow Heisman candidate Michael Bush (1,143 yards, 23 touchdowns in 2005) at running back, as well as dangerous runner George Stripling (7.9 yards per carry) and smooth receivers Urrutia (37 catches, 797 yards) and Harry Douglas (27, 457), this year's unit could be his most potent yet.

An intriguing measuring stick will come the third week of the season, when Louisville hosts defensive juggernaut Miami in a rematch of the teams' Thursday-night thriller at the Orange Bowl two years ago. Any doubts that Brohm will be the starting quarterback that day — or in the Cards' season opener against Kentucky two weeks earlier — can officially be put to rest.

"I think he could play in the spring game if he wanted to," said Treolo. "Would we allow it? No way."