Sheets Off Limits to Media

After Purdue's loss to Northwestern, the Boilermaker's star running back Kory Sheets made some comments to the press that Tiller was not proud of. Sheets criticized his quarterback Curtis Painter in some of the after-game talks with the press. He blames Painter for not looking to him in his flat routes and Sheets claims he is wide open most of the time, which is true. Painter has been overlooking Sheets since he is always looking downfield, trying to go downfield for the big play. Kory Sheets states that Painter has too much going through his head during the time of the play and forgets to look to Sheets for the short option pass.

Not only does Sheets criticize his quarterback Curtis Painter, but he also criticizes the play calling by the coaches. He wonders why the coaches still would rather throw the ball even though they are getting nowhere with passes and giving up turnovers. Kory Sheets says that they need to run the ball more often to be more productive. "Right now, Painter hasn't been consistent. ... I'm being real consistent, I think they have to start looking at me for some answers and giving me the ball and let me carry the team, instead of keep putting the ball in Painter's hands," Kory Sheets stated to the press after their loss. Sheets has made it clear that he wants the ball more and he believes that the Boilermakers will play better the more touches he gets.

Head coach Joe Tiller is not mad enough to suspend Sheets or anything for his remarks or anything. Tiller has been putting up with Sheet's mouth for years and knows that he has a big mouth. "We all know Kory pretty well. Anything Kory says doesn't surprise any of us, players or coaches. Kory is liable to say anything at any time," Tiller states. "I have an issue with what he says, somewhat. The other side of the coin, he's playing hard. I think his heart is in the right place. I think he's frustrated. I think it manifested itself in some comments. I don't think he's malicious or thinks anything really bad about his teammates. Am I happy with some of the comments? No. But I know Kory. And I know Kory is competitive and wants to win. So do I." Coach Tiller understands where Sheets is coming from, but put him off limits to the press so he doesn't say anything that he will regret. He is just releasing some of the stress from being on a losing streak when he believes that they should be able to play a lot better than they are playing right now. We will have to wait and see if Joe Tiller listened to Kory Sheets thoughts of giving him the ball more often.