Everything Penn State coach James Franklin said on Wednesday night

Penn State coach held his regularly-scheduled post practice news conference on Wednesday night. The 11th year leader of the Nittany Lions spoke with reporters for the second time during Bowling Green week. It will mark his last question and answer session with the media until after the contest.

The first thing question on this night focused on the status of veteran tight end Khalil Dinkins , who was out against West Virginia but is back on the practice field this week.

“There’s still the issue, he’s missed a ton of time, both mentally and physically,” Franklin said. “So, we have to knock the rust off. We’ll see. If he’s ready, as you guys have seen, he can be a weapon for us. But, if not, we have some guys like you’ve seen with Luke and others that we think can fill that role. Ideally, we’d love to have him back, so, specifically with Luke, we can save some of those games.”

Read everything else Franklin had to say in the video above. And read his comments in full below.

On Penn State tight end Andrew Rappleyea

“As you guys know, we’ve had a ton of confidence in him for a while,” Franklin said. “Football is very important to him. He works at it. He’s committed, he’s athletic, he’s a great route runner. He wants to be a physical tight end, which is something that’s very important to us here. As you guys know, I keep saying Tyler Warren’s the most complete tight end in the country.

“I think Rapp has a chance to be one of those guys as well. So, it’s a really good group. I think Ty Warren is kind of, in some ways, leaving a legacy, and how to practice and how to work. And I think Rap has learned a ton from him already.”

On cornerbacks Elliot Washington II and Zion Tracy

“Yeah, Terry [Smith’s] done a phenomenal job,” Franklin said. “We have depth at the cornerback position like I don’t remember us having before. And, I don’t think very few programs in the country have it, and that’s why, not only are they playing on defense, and you’ll see guys rotate through as starters, you’ll see guys rotate through in terms of reps, but then also specialties.

“Not only did Elliott, have that big time interception, but he also started on all four core special teams units, so he is making a huge impact in a lot of different ways. And I think Zion’s another guys like that. Those guys are fast. They’re athletic. They got great football IQ, you remember last year, he made the unbelievable play on the fake punt. Just guys that are football players and got great football IQ, you can use them in a lot, a lot of different places. Zion’s another guy like that.”

What does James Franklin want Penn State to clean up this week?

“The biggest thing is penalties,” he said. “And when I talk about penalties, as you guys heard me say before, it’s not necessarily the penalties that happen during the play. It’s the pre-snap penalties and the post-snap penalties. Those are the ones that you got to clean up. They’re focus and discipline penalties.

“But that’s probably the biggest thing from player’s perspective, and then a combination of players and coaches, is the timeouts. You know, we’ve done a really good job of not burning timeouts and having all three timeouts, or at least two timeouts, available at the end of the half and the end of the game. And I think we burned three timeouts, one in really all three phases, offense, defense and special teams. And we don’t want to be doing that.”

When do the Lions decide when to try and flip a recruit?

“Well, I think a couple of things,” Franklin said “I think number one is this a player that we felt like we were legitimately in [it for]? So some of these guys, they put out a top five, and you’re not in it. That’s a top five they’re just putting out for the media.

“There’s three schools that young man has been really focused on, and if it came down to us and another school and and we reach out, or the kid tells us, ‘hey, I want you to keep recruiting me,’ then we’ll keep recruiting. them. We only have so many resources, and you got to make sure that the time you’re spending is time well spent.

“And so to me, it’s were we legitimately in it? Is the kid receptive? Is the kid open? And do you feel like you got a legitimate chance to get him before signing day? You know, we’re not a negative recruiting team. We’re not a team that’s going to go after other people’s recruits, just to go after other people’s recruits. It’s about a guy we’ve had a ton of time invested in, and they still want to be recruited. And we feel like we got a shot.”

On Nittany Lions cornerback Jalen Kimber

“When you talk about a veteran, you know, you’re talking about a guy who’s played a bunch of football in some serious conferences and done it at a pretty high level, enough that we were very interested in him when he entered the portal, and then he came here, and he’s done the same thing,” Franklin said. “I think he’s really grown in all the stuff kind of off the field, from a developmental standpoint, especially in the weight group, got bigger, stronger and faster and more explosive. But he’s a veteran guy.

“I think we’ve talked about before, about the importance of having some older players that have played, whether it’s here at Penn State or other places. There’s value to that. And then, being able to learn some things from our staff, and Terry specifically, just very steady workman like approach. And again, a guy that the game’s not too big for him. Sometimes the young players, you’re very impressed with them. But then they get into the game and their eyes get big and the moments big for them. He’s played a ton of football, so we’ve pretty impressed since he arrived on campus.”

On freshman Penn State safety Dejuan Lane

“I think the challenge is, if I remember correctly, he was not a mid semester guy,” Franklin said. “I think if he could have been here in the spring, he’d be so much further ahead right now. But when you’re talking about us creating that depth that we talk about, having at least a two and a half deep, we got to get somebody to step up into that fifth safety role, especially with us playing so much three safeties on the field.

“So, his development as well as other guys, is important. We need his reps to increase this week, and we need his reps to increase next week and the next game, so that that his role can continue to grow on special teams and on defense, and that he earns the trust of his teammates and the coaches. But you know again, since he just arrived this summer, doing some pretty good things. Big, strong, fast, physical, guy that’s working very, very hard at it right now, but he’s a guy we green lighted, and we’re trying to fast track his development, kind of speed up his maturation process.”

On the situation at linebacker

“That’s another position [where] we have to create some depth, whether it’s with some position changes like you guys have seen, or maybe playing some guys [who could otherwise redshirt],” Franklin said. “There’s going to be some guys that we’re going to have to use some games on to develop that depth.

“Overall, I think our starting unit, we feel really good about, and even some of the backups that have played a decent amount of football for us. But, we have some depth issues there. So, the development of guys like DaKaari and [freshman Anthony] Speca and those guys is going to be really important for us moving forward.”

On Penn State safety Jaylen Reed

“He’s just the wily vet, been around for a while now, played a ton of football for us,” Franklin said. “Played really well on Saturday, as you guys saw. But I also think he’s one of these guys that, not only did he play well on Saturday, but he practices well, and he works hard. He is one of the smartest football players I’ve ever been around.

“If you watch him, he’s out there and he is kind of orchestrating everything, really a vocal player on the field. The game of football makes sense to him. It really always has. So he’s just a guy that the guys on the team respect his physical ability. They respect his mental ability, his football IQ, and his approach to the game. I think, we’re in the argument for the one of the best safety rooms in the country. When we take Zakee, KJ and Jaylen Reed, that’s a really nice combination of pieces to work with. We need this to continue to grow.”

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