Two key Penn State football players were absent from practice Tuesday evening and Coach James Franklin was asked about it in his post-practice media availability.
Dani Dennis-Sutton, Penn Stateโs No. 1 defensive end post-Abdul Carter, and Nolan Rucci, who blossomed into a force at right tackle toward the end of 2024, were both out.
They were also out for the mediaโs first practice viewing window, which took place Tuesday, March 25.
โTheyโre just not available right now,โ Franklin said.
It must be pointed out that these are two of Penn Stateโs oldest players, so the need for them to be available during spring practice isnโt as strong as it is for most.
NO NEED TO PANIC
Photo by Matt Lynch, Nittany Sports Now: Nolan Rucci
Thereโs no need for Penn State to panic yet about this.
Penn Stateโs first game isnโt for almost five months, and Franklin doesnโt shy away from saying when a player is out long-term.
For instance, Franklin said last September that star safety KJ Winston was out with a long-term injury.
Penn State Star out with โLong-Term Injury,โ Franklin Says
Winston didnโt play another down for Penn State that season and ended up declaring for the NFL Draft, where heโll be selected later this month.
Franklin also said during fall camp last August than then-true freshman receiver Peter Gonzalez would be out with a long-term injury. He didnโt end up playing in 2024.
LOAD MANAGEMENT
Photo by Matt Lynch, Nittany Sports Now: Dani Dennis-Sutton
Franklin said during his pre-spring practice presser that Penn State would be careful with how it used its veteran players.
โVery similar to what we’ve always done in the past with our established guys,โ he said. โYou guys a saw it with Olu Fashanu. Like with our established guys who have played a lot of football, we will modify their reps. That’s a fine line because they still need to get better. That’s why they came back. So we need to be smart about that.โ
Franklin also feels this gives younger players a chance to show what they can do.
โI also think it creates an opportunity for the guys that are behind them that are competing for more significant roles,โ he said. โIt gives a better evaluation on those guys as well. For our established guys, we talk about it as a staff. We go around, each position coach talks about his plan for each of his guys, make sure we’re on the same page, how I see it as well as how they see it. Then we’ll implement that during spring ball.
โDid the same thing with Tyler Warren last year. So I would say there is probably about one, if not two guys like that at every position that will have some form of a modification this spring and really in training camp as well.โ
