Abdul Carter injury update: James Franklin offers the latest on the Penn State star one day before the Orange Bowl
DANIA BEACH, Fla. — The wait to see if Penn State All-American defender Abdul Carter will play, and be effective, in the Orange Bowl will officially last until Thursday. Nittany Lions coach James Franklin was asked to offer the latest update on the status of the junior Wednesday. As expected, he was not eager to tip his hand while sitting beside his opponent, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman, during a joint news conference here at the Le Méridien Dania Beach hotel.
“We anticipate Abdul playing,” Franklin said. “He’s doing everything he possibly can to play. His approach has been awesome. He’s lived in the training room. But, it’ll be a game-time decision. We’ll see. Abdul’s approached this the right way. He wants to play. We are hopeful, and expecting Abdul to play. And, we’ll see how this plays out.”
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Everything that has been said about Penn State star defender Abdul Carter this week
Carter himself has spent time since suffering an upper-body injury at the Fiesta Bowl that cost him the final three and a half quarters tweeting Star Wars related clips testing that he would play. Penn state defensive coordinator Tom Allen said Tuesday that his star player was doing everything he could to be ready for game day. And, James Franklin said back on Saturday that it would be a matter of if he could play as opposed to whether or not he would try to play.
“He’s doing great, his attitude is great, his mentality has been really good,” Franklin said. “We’ll see. I think he’s taking the right approach and mentality. It’s going to come down to how he feels and how much practice he’s able to get during the week.
“At this point, I don’t think there’s anything that is stopping him from playing. But it’s just going to come down to, is he able to play? And, we’ll see. But his mentality is great. He’s got a big smile on his face. I think he’s excited about this week. But it’s too early to say at this stage.”
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The leader of the Lions also discussed Carter during a New Year’s Day appearance on ESPN’s ‘College GameDay.’
“If he’s able to go, I know he’ll go, so we’ll get him checked out and make sure everything’s okay. I just saw him walking for breakfast and he looks great,” Franklin said. “His attitude is great. But I just don’t have a ton of information for you right now. We’ll get back and get some more information, and then find out quickly. The little extra time helps too, as you know.”
More on Jeremiyah Love
Notre Dame star running back Jeremiyah Love tweaked his right knee in the FIghting Irish’s regular season finale and then again in the Sugar Bowl. He is practicing and will play, despite that fact.
“J-Love has had a good week of practice,” Freeman said. “We have to be smart about how much we do in practice. “No one feels 100% but J-Love will be ready to go.”
