Penn State's James Franklin offers safety optimism, injury clarification, more: Notebook

Penn State head coach James Franklin met with the media Tuesday afternoon at Beaver Stadium for his weekly press conference. His Nittany Lions, now 8-2 on the season coming out of a weekend win over Maryland, are now ranked No. 11 ahead of a pre-Thanksgiving trip to Rutgers.

Tackling a variety of subjects, with one unprompted, major point of clarification, here is a look at some of the news, notes, and themes to emerge from Franklin’s press conference on Tuesday:

James Franklin press conference notebook

Joey Porter Jr.’s status

As detailed by our Greg Pickel earlier Tuesday, cornerback and NFL Draft hopeful Joey Porter Jr. missed last Saturday’s game due to what Franklin initially reported as a non-football-specific injury. 

Tuesday, citing misreporting on the situation, Franklin took it a step further. Determined to clear up the issue, the head coach clarified that Porter had appendicitis. 

To the extent that the star cornerback will miss time the rest of the way, though, Franklin said that the medical issue didn’t mean the end of his season. Rather, Franklin said that Penn State is “expecting him back.”

Maybe more important to Penn State’s immediate concerns this weekend, Franklin also offered that, while the program is “hoping to get Joey back as soon as possible,” defensive coordinator Manny Diaz was able to implement an unencumbered strategy with the corners who were available in the game against the Terrapins.

For Penn State, starting fast and finishing strong

Coming out of the weekend win over Maryland, Franklin offered one particular point of consternation the program will look to improve upon moving forward. 

Crediting his team for its fast start, citing the great special teams play to pin the Terrapins at their 11-yard line from the opening kickoff, the three-and-out forced by the defense, and the touchdown for the offense on its first possession of the game, Franklin said the opposite was true in the game’s second half.

“We talk about starting fast; we did that. But then finishing strong, just didn’t feel like we truly played the second half (that way),” Franklin said. “We say every game it’s 0-0 coming out of halftime, and I’m not sure we truly did that up to the same standard and expectations. (It was) 27-0 in the first half and, we did win the second half 3-0, but not at the same standard in my opinion.”

The Ji’Ayir Brown effect on Penn State football

Franklin was asked a handful of questions about Ji’Ayir Brown’s performance this season and influence on the program. 

Tucked within one of those answers, all glowing, including a strong emphasis that Brown should be the subject of more attention and potential at the NFL level, Franklin shed some light on what the position group looks like moving forward. 

Specifically, when discussing Brown’s effect on the other performers in the room – Keaton Ellis, Jaylen Reed, and Zakee Wheatley – Franklin foretold of a similar role for Ellis moving into the future. 

“When you talk about our safeties, whether it’s Jaylen Reed or K.J. Winston or Zakee or Keaton Ellis, that it was obvious when you watch the tape that they all played better when (Ji’Ayir) was on the field with them. So he was the one guy that his rep count was a little bit higher because of that,” Franklin said. “We are trying to kind of change those things. Keaton is another guy that’s experienced, so when Tig wasn’t on the field, we wanted to make sure Keaton was on the field because he could have a similar impact. We need Keaton to step into that role moving forward.”

Ellis is in his fourth full season playing. Franklin’s answer would strongly suggest an expectation that Ellis return to take advantage of his COVID bonus season of eligibility.

In the same answer, Franklin added that Kobe King and Tyler Elsdon have taken visible strides directing traffic for the linebackers in the same vein as P.J. Mustipher up front and Brown on the back end of the defense. 

Penn State football odds and ends

– Speaking of Penn State’s cornerback depth, Franklin dropped the nugget publicly that true freshman Cristian Driver, who began his career at the position this year, has also been getting practice reps on the offensive side of the ball. “Driver is a guy that played on defense on Saturday. We’re also playing him on offense. He has position flexibility and we’re excited about him.”

– Franklin discussed his approach to going, or not going, for fourth down calls. The answer offered some insight into the process, revealing that, while using an analytics company (that is shared by many of the programs in the Big Ten as a resource), the circumstantial decisions based on specific opponents are mapped out weekly. 

“I get the book’s recommendations, and then I get the four staff member’s recommendations, and then I make the final call and then we go into the game with that information,” Franklin said. “There are some people that are going to do it no matter what, and for us, it’s just another piece of information that guides you. I still feel like during the game, based on how the game is playing out, the weather, are you scoring more than maybe you anticipated or scoring less than you anticipated, all these things factor into it.”

– Asked about Penn State’s defensive surge at this late juncture in the season, Franklin touched on the freshness of the group as a whole, pointing to the rep counts now through 10 games. 

“If you look at our rep count on defense, it’s way down compared to last year and maybe the year before because we’re rotating so many guys,” he said. “I think that’s why you’re seeing our defense play fresh and still being disruptive and getting better.”