Tulane head coach Willie Fritz describes his quarterback, Michael Pratt, as one who is “always on.”
“He (doesn’t get) burned out and he doesn’t get screwed up,” Fritz said. “He doesn’t play calm. He’s a very excitable guy, he’s fired up and into it all the time. But it’s in a good way, you know, it’s not where he’s panicking in any way shape or form.”
A lot of that is reflected in Tulane signal-caller’s aggressive running style that has earned him a lot of recognition (and additional yards on the ground for the Green Wave) but has also come at a price at some times.
Fritz has said throughout the season that he’d like to see Pratt take less hits, something that seems to be a point of emphasis for him personally now that he’s had to sit out arguably the two most important games of his career where draft stock is concerned due to injury.
Those are the 2022 matchup against the Houston Cougars in which Kai Horton shined in an overtime victory as the third man up at quarterback and the contest against Ole Miss in which the Green Wave came up short in 2023.
Pratt sustained a knee injury during the fourth quarter of the team’s Week 1 meeting with South Alabama, making his return against Nicholls State on Saturday.
When he did, one of the things that stood out was that he was sliding more, though with a little more of an unorthodox, headfirst motion.
“Normally, I’ll slide more like a baseball slide, but with my knee, I didn’t want it to kind of feel weird so this week was more of a headfirst slide,” Pratt laughed. “So, gotta get used to that.”
Moving forward, it seems to have resonated with him more how running the ball in risky fashion, or perhaps even unnecessarily at times, can have its consequences that include taking him out of games that greatly alter his overall resume as a draft prospect.
“It just kind of comes with experience,” Pratt said. “I’ve gotta be a little better with that. Not try to do too much with the ball and just take what they give me and be able to get down better.”
Heading into Week 5 against UAB, Pratt holds an 84.2% completion rate, passing for 484 yards with 6 touchdowns and 1 interception as he continues to show marked improvement as a passer.
He’s carried the ball 20 times for 72 yards with 1 rushing touchdown in 2023.
