Penn State football injury updates: James Franklin updates spring status for multiple Nittany Lions

Spring practice is underway in Happy Valley. However, injuries are already a concern for Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin as several players are battling injuries.

Franklin was hesitant to share an update on the length of time for any individual player’s recovery. However, he did share that Tony Rojas, Andrew Rappleyea, and Anthony Donkoh are out for the start of spring practice at least.

“I don’t want to speak in terms of the length of spring ball,” James Franklin said. “Because I don’t know exactly how that will play out, but they will not be fully available in the beginning of spring ball.  We’ll just see how that goes. Hard to say. Everybody kind of heals differently and at a different pace in how they attack treatment and those things. Obviously, our doctors and trainers have basic guidelines about how long certain injuries take to heal that they go by, but it’s hard to say.”

Tony Rojas is a linebacker who played 16 games last season for Penn State and had 58 tackles, 6.0 tackles for a loss, one sack, and three interceptions last season. However, an offseason injury is keeping him out of the start of spring. At this point, Franklin has not shared the specifics of the injury, but Rojas was seen in a sling this offseason.

Andrew Rappleyea, meanwhile, is a tight end who suffered a long-term lower-body injury in September. That kept him out for the majority of last season. Now a redshirt sophomore, he’s hoping to get healthy ahead of the 2025 season. Then, right tackle Anthony Donkoh suffered his own lower-body injury in November. That ended his 2024 season early. He had started 10 games at right tackle last season for Penn State.

“They’re not completely available to start spring ball. There are some things they’ll be able to do,” Franklin said. “And some things they won’t.”

Penn State had one of the briefest breaks between the end of the 2024 season and the start of spring practice. The Nittany Lions played in three College Football Playoff games, only losing in the semifinal to Notre Dame in a thrilling game. That was played on January 9th and since the team has also had to undergo winter workouts.

James Franklin will want to get his team as healthy as possible by the end of spring and through the summer. After all, the Nittany Lions only have a few months before the next regular season begins on August 30th with a home game against Nevada.

James Franklin explains why Penn State will not cancel spring game

Several teams around the country have chosen to cancel their spring games. However, Penn State is making sure to play their game, a decision that James Franklin spoke passionately about.

“First thing I’m going to say is, I’ve been at Penn State now long enough to understand the impact Penn State football has on this entire community. And … a successful Penn State football program helps everybody out — the bars, the restaurants, the hotels,” Franklin said.

“So for me to at any point to say we’re not going to have a Spring game, I don’t think that’ll make sense for a ton of reasons. The university schedules a ton of fundraising events around the Spring game, a lot of people are in town, it’s like a homecoming in the Spring. So that’s going to factor in always into our decision-making process.”