Chaz Coleman injury update: Will the Penn State defensive end return to action at Rutgers?

Penn State defensive end Chaz Coleman has missed the Nittany Lions’ (5-6) last three games due to an undisclosed injury. After suiting up for 143 snaps and burning his redshirt by playing in eight games so far as a freshman, Coleman has since been out for his team’s contests with Indiana, Michigan State, and Nebraska. Speaking on Nov. 12 before PSU took on Michigan State, interim head coach Terry Smith said that Coleman was “Still day to day” and that “We’re hoping to get him back any day.” However, that day has yet to come. Could it come this week when Penn State closes out the 2025 regular season at Rutgers? Coleman was back at practice on Wednesday night, and Smith discussed him afterward.

“Yeah, he’s going to be a game time decision,” Smith said. “He practiced today So, we’ll see how he recovers from that. And then we’ll see how it goes tomorrow, and we’ll take him all the way up to game time and see what happens.”

Coleman has seven tackles (three for loss) and a sack so far this season. He also has two fumble recoveries, a forced fumble, and three quarterback hurries.

“The sky’s the limit for that guy,” Lions linebacker Dom DeLuca said about Coleman in November. “He’s a really quiet kid. The guy is just a freak athlete. Everything he does is 100 miles per hour and just getting to the ball as fast as he could.”

Added Smith after this year’s Ohio State game:

“He’s going to be a major part of what we do moving forward.”

Coleman also made On3’s midseason true freshman All-American team.

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