On this seasonably chilly Thanksgiving Eve, Penn State held it’s Wednesday practice session outside the Lasch Building as it continues preparations for this weekend’s season-ending game at Michigan State.
Nittany Lions’ head coach James Franklin met with reporters as practiced wrapped - and some of the younger non-travel players competed in 7-on-7 drills - to answer questions.
Though the conversation centered largely on the team’s Thanksgiving plans, let’s get right into the few news and notes items to go through regarding this week’s preparations.
1) Franklin is expecting Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook to be a go on Saturday.
Citing the Spartans’ senior day and Cook’s gametime decision not to play last week in Columbus, Franklin said that one of the Big Ten’s top passers is likely to be ready for this weekend’s contest.
“It was a game time decision from what I understand last week. He went out and warmed up. So if he was close to being able to go last week, I think you have to plan that he's going to play this week. Another week's gone by. He didn't play,” said Franklin. “I think he's gotta be ready and we'll plan accordingly.”
Noting that Cook is big and physical, comparing him to the Lions’ own Christian Hackenberg, Franklin said that the program will also be prepared for the possibility of runs and read schemes out of Cook as well.
And as for the Spartans’ backups, Tyler O’Connor and Damion Terry, Franklin said the gameplan will adjust accordingly.
“It probably had a lot to do with the weather, but it's not like they threw a whole lot. They ran the ball and were physical, which is kind of who they are. Mix some of those passes in and some other things,” Franklin said. “But I would assume it's going to be a similar style of game. If Connor is going to play, they'll obviously open it up a little bit more and take some more shots and put a little bit more on his shoulders. But if not, I think it's going to be a similar gameplan as last week.”
2) Judging by Franklin’s own standard in evaluating Connor Cook’s readiness to play, the availability of Carl Nassib would seem to be probable for Saturday’s game.
“He was really disappointed on Saturday,” said Franklin. “It wasn't getting better fast enough and he tried. During warmups, me and Sean were watching him and you could tell he wasn't going to be able to go. He tried to go a couple of plays and we had to shut him down.”
Speaking early about Nassib’s impact on the team this season, Franklin suggested that his presence Saturday against Michigan might have had a significant impact.
“Obviously not having Carl Nassib last week, one of the better players in the country, one of the most productive players in the country, you could make an argument he could have been the difference in five plays and those five plays could have been significant,” said Franklin. “Hopefully we can get him back as well as some other guys.”
3) Some of those “other guys” that aren’t going to be available, different from previous seasons, were actually allowed to go home early for Thanksgiving, said Franklin as he explained in detail some of the team’s plans for the holiday.
“A bunch of the guys that are either sick or hurt or not traveling, we let them go home. It didn't make sense for them to be up here and away from their families if they didn't have to be,” he said. “We'll get going early tomorrow morning, I think around 6:15 and we do that so we try to get all of our responsibilities done and give them as much time on Thanksgiving as they can possibly get. Same with the coaches, to be honest with you.
“We'll have breakfast in the morning, meetings, go through our normal routine except we'll just do it very early in the day, and after we get done with practice and meetings, we'll have a full team Thanksgiving meal over at Pollock Training Table.”
As for practice itself, Franklin said it’s been good through the week and today. “You gotta be careful because school's out, they're worried about where they're going to eat, they haven't seen their families - a bunch of young players that we have on the team, so making sure that we have a plan and it doesn't become a distraction.”
4) Expect a change at punt return for this weekend’s game.
Coming off a tough fumble last weekend against the Wolverines, Franklin explained that Pook Garrity is likely to be back there this weekend.
“Pook is a guy that's been very, very dependable. He's got a lot of respect around here from his teammates and coaches,” said Franklin. “He's been very dependable for a long time and I just feel like right now until we get some things cleaned up, it's probably in our best interest to have him back there.”
And as for DeAndre Thompkins, Franklin said that though the redshirt freshman internalizes much, the team has rallied around him.
“He's a guy that really since he got here he's kind of a reserved guy. He keeps a lot of things in. So it's kind of hard to judge his emotion,” said Franklin. “I know how the coaches and the players responded to him, having his back. We addressed it on Sunday, no different than we address other mistakes that were made in the game.
“One of things that's important to us here at Penn State is when guys make mistakes, he didn't mean to make that mistake, so when guys make mistakes you correct the issue but you don't make it personal. I think he understands that. We don't want to be berating players. Sometimes you see that on TV and games, berating players and things like that, we're not going to do that. Support and love him. I thought his teammates did that as well, and he'll get other opportunities and he'll make plays.”
Nittany Lions’ head coach James Franklin met with reporters as practiced wrapped - and some of the younger non-travel players competed in 7-on-7 drills - to answer questions.
Though the conversation centered largely on the team’s Thanksgiving plans, let’s get right into the few news and notes items to go through regarding this week’s preparations.
1) Franklin is expecting Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook to be a go on Saturday.
Citing the Spartans’ senior day and Cook’s gametime decision not to play last week in Columbus, Franklin said that one of the Big Ten’s top passers is likely to be ready for this weekend’s contest.
“It was a game time decision from what I understand last week. He went out and warmed up. So if he was close to being able to go last week, I think you have to plan that he's going to play this week. Another week's gone by. He didn't play,” said Franklin. “I think he's gotta be ready and we'll plan accordingly.”
Noting that Cook is big and physical, comparing him to the Lions’ own Christian Hackenberg, Franklin said that the program will also be prepared for the possibility of runs and read schemes out of Cook as well.
And as for the Spartans’ backups, Tyler O’Connor and Damion Terry, Franklin said the gameplan will adjust accordingly.
“It probably had a lot to do with the weather, but it's not like they threw a whole lot. They ran the ball and were physical, which is kind of who they are. Mix some of those passes in and some other things,” Franklin said. “But I would assume it's going to be a similar style of game. If Connor is going to play, they'll obviously open it up a little bit more and take some more shots and put a little bit more on his shoulders. But if not, I think it's going to be a similar gameplan as last week.”
2) Judging by Franklin’s own standard in evaluating Connor Cook’s readiness to play, the availability of Carl Nassib would seem to be probable for Saturday’s game.
“He was really disappointed on Saturday,” said Franklin. “It wasn't getting better fast enough and he tried. During warmups, me and Sean were watching him and you could tell he wasn't going to be able to go. He tried to go a couple of plays and we had to shut him down.”
Speaking early about Nassib’s impact on the team this season, Franklin suggested that his presence Saturday against Michigan might have had a significant impact.
“Obviously not having Carl Nassib last week, one of the better players in the country, one of the most productive players in the country, you could make an argument he could have been the difference in five plays and those five plays could have been significant,” said Franklin. “Hopefully we can get him back as well as some other guys.”
3) Some of those “other guys” that aren’t going to be available, different from previous seasons, were actually allowed to go home early for Thanksgiving, said Franklin as he explained in detail some of the team’s plans for the holiday.
“A bunch of the guys that are either sick or hurt or not traveling, we let them go home. It didn't make sense for them to be up here and away from their families if they didn't have to be,” he said. “We'll get going early tomorrow morning, I think around 6:15 and we do that so we try to get all of our responsibilities done and give them as much time on Thanksgiving as they can possibly get. Same with the coaches, to be honest with you.
“We'll have breakfast in the morning, meetings, go through our normal routine except we'll just do it very early in the day, and after we get done with practice and meetings, we'll have a full team Thanksgiving meal over at Pollock Training Table.”
As for practice itself, Franklin said it’s been good through the week and today. “You gotta be careful because school's out, they're worried about where they're going to eat, they haven't seen their families - a bunch of young players that we have on the team, so making sure that we have a plan and it doesn't become a distraction.”
4) Expect a change at punt return for this weekend’s game.
Coming off a tough fumble last weekend against the Wolverines, Franklin explained that Pook Garrity is likely to be back there this weekend.
“Pook is a guy that's been very, very dependable. He's got a lot of respect around here from his teammates and coaches,” said Franklin. “He's been very dependable for a long time and I just feel like right now until we get some things cleaned up, it's probably in our best interest to have him back there.”
And as for DeAndre Thompkins, Franklin said that though the redshirt freshman internalizes much, the team has rallied around him.
“He's a guy that really since he got here he's kind of a reserved guy. He keeps a lot of things in. So it's kind of hard to judge his emotion,” said Franklin. “I know how the coaches and the players responded to him, having his back. We addressed it on Sunday, no different than we address other mistakes that were made in the game.
“One of things that's important to us here at Penn State is when guys make mistakes, he didn't mean to make that mistake, so when guys make mistakes you correct the issue but you don't make it personal. I think he understands that. We don't want to be berating players. Sometimes you see that on TV and games, berating players and things like that, we're not going to do that. Support and love him. I thought his teammates did that as well, and he'll get other opportunities and he'll make plays.”
