Boilers Take Field for Thursday Practice

Interviews: Coach Hinshaw | Ryan Browne | Evans Chuba | Bennett Meredith

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue Football returned to the field on Thursday morning (August 13) after having the day off on Wednesday.

The Boilers’ quarterback room is led by Darin Hinshaw, heading into his second season in West Lafayette. Both Hinshaw and offensive coordinator Josh Henson lean heavily into the progression of the room that returns four of its five members from last season.

“Josh Henson has been pouring into our quarterbacks with the mental side of the game, from understanding defenses to every single aspect of our offense,” said Hinshaw. “It’s been unbelievable, the change from last year to where we are now, in understanding the offense and where we’re going with it.”

The room retained its leader from 2025, Ryan Browne, who started all 12 games. He passed for 2,153 yards with a 58.9 completion percentage. Browne, entering his fourth season at Purdue, has stressed ball security in his 2026 preparation.

“The number one thing is not turning the ball over, and I took a big step in spring ball with that,” said Browne. “I’ve been really good about that so far in camp… I want a high completion percentage and low turnovers.”

To Browne’s credit, the work has paid off to this point in camp as Hinshaw noted he has thrown roughly 14 touchdowns with just one interception.

Behind Browne is a quarterback battle between Evans Chuba and Bennett Meredith after last season’s backup, Malachi Singleton, transferred to Appalachian State. Meredith enters his fourth season at Purdue and fifth season overall after he started his career at Arizona State. Despite the competition throughout camp, Meredith says the bond in the quarterback room remains strong.

“Evans is awesome. He a great dude, great quarterback and great leader,” said Meredith. “Us pushing each other every single day is extremely competitive, but a healthy competition. I got his back, and he’s got mine.”

Hailing from Montreal, Quebec, Chuba enters his second season in West Lafayette after he started his career at Washington State. He has yet to appear in any collegiate game and has used the learning opportunities to his advantage. 

“It’s been a fun process,” said Chuba. “I grew in a lot of ways, and I think the biggest one is the maturity of the game… I had a great opportunity this offseason to study the greats that were doing it, like Drew Brees, learning how to manage the game.”

Purdue takes the field again on Friday morning (August 14).