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PSU practice notes: James Franklin says RB Saquon Barkley takes reps and more

By Audrey Snyder/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 8 years ago

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Dressed in shoulder pads and shorts, running back Saquon Barkley did take reps at Wednesday’s practice, coach James Franklin said.  

Barkley didn’t take any reps during the 10-minutes portion that was open to the media and hasn’t played in since injuring his right ankle during the win against San Diego State, but he was at practice. Franklin said how Barkley – and other injured players respond to treatment in the coming days — will determine whether or not he and others play Saturday afternoon against Indiana.

“He’s kind of still working through it,” Franklin said of Barkley following practice. “No determination has been made, but he did take reps in practice and he looked good, but we’ll see.”

Linebacker Brandon Bell, safety Marcus Allen and right tackle Andrew Nelson were also participants during the 10-minute portion of practice that was open to the media. Paris Palmer repped at left tackle and Nelson at right. Nelson hasn’t played since the end of the first half against Buffalo and this was the first time he was practicing when the media was present since then. 

“I think having Marcus Allen and Jordan Lucas and Brandon Bell back would be significant for us. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that,” Franklin said. “We’re hopeful. Every morning at 7 am we have a staff meeting and we sit down with the trainers and they kind of go through. A lot of it goes when you practice today how do they react?”

Bringing sexy back?

James Franklin said he doesn’t always want Penn State (4-1, 1-0 Big Ten) to win ugly. It’s also true that Penn State’s offense, ranked 116th in the Football Bowl Subdivision, can’t be as creative each week, Franklin said.

He said the playbook is essentially the same, but the creativity waivers every week based on personnel and experience level of the offense.

“I would like our identity to be winning,” Franklin said. “I don’t know if we want our identity to be ugly. We are in the entertainment business as well. It’s sports and it’s college athletics and it’s also entertainment. Yeah, you don’t want it to be ugly long term. I don’t want to be ugly long term, the team doesn’t want to be ugly long term.

“We would like to get to a point where it’s more exciting, sexier is a word that I use sometimes that you guys laugh at, but you know yeah, you get to that. Right now the most important thing is winning and then those things evolving over time. Trust me, those wide outs and quarterbacks and DBs, they all want that and so do we.”

Big-picture thinking?

Did Franklin think he’d face this many questions about the program, specifically the long-term vision this early into his Penn State tenure?

“Well, probably not before I took the job, but as things played out this way because people want to know the direction of the program and where we see it going long term,” Franklin said.

He said that what coaches see behind the scenes — as far as in the meeting room and at practices -- is important and that right now Penn State needs to be “getting good at something and creating an identity.” 

If Franklin was a fan then what’s the defining game this season? 

“For me? The defining game is this Saturday. This one is big. This Saturday is big,” he said. “Next week that one will be big. I don’t know. I don’t look like that. … That’s for you guys to have those awesome discussions on what’s defining and what’s not. I want to win Saturday. Pretty, ugly, nasty, sexy, exciting, win. Whatever way we’ve got to do it.”

Audrey Snyder: asnyder@post-gazette.com and Twitter @audsnyder4.