Penn State defensive tackle PJ Mustipher updates progress with camp over, Purdue on the horizon
STATE COLLEGE — Penn State defensive tackle PJ Mustipher said at Big Ten Media Days in July that he had passed his conditioning test. That meant camp was the next box he had to check on his road to recovery and the opener at Purdue.
That has now been done, the 6-foot-4, 321-pound senior from Maryland told reporters on Tuesday night.
Mustipher was jovial as he talked about working with teammates over the last month to get ready for the opener. He is returning from a knee injury that was suffered in the middle of Penn State-Iowa game last October. Happy with his progress to date, the defender said the days that lie ahead will be focused on continuing to improve on and off the field before the opener.
“It’s been great,” Mustipher said.. The first couple of days I was out there, I was getting back comfortable, getting my wind back. Because, you know, the conditioning test isn’t the same as football conditioning. I feel great. I felt like I had a really good camp, one of my better camps. But at the end of the day, I’m taking it day by day. The goal is to be ready for Sept. 1. It’s coming up. So, I got to continue to get better. And if I do that, everything else will take care of itself.”
And what about the Penn State team as a whole as the program transitions into strictly preparing for the Boilermakers?
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“[We are in] a great spot,” Mustipher said. “We had a really good camp. I was really pleased with the work we put in. Collectively, as a unit, we got a bunch of hungry guys out there. We’re in a really good spot. We’re going to keep putting in the work.”
Penn State coach James Franklin talks Mustipher as a leader
Penn State head coach James Franklin has known Mustipher for a long time. So, he’s familiar with all of the ways he has grown on and off the field since coming to the Lions as a four-star recruit. The leader of the Lions pointed to one thing in particular, leadership, when asked about the defensive tackle on Tuesday.
“He’s been great and he’s gotten better in that way,” Franklin said. “PJ was very much a lead by example [guy]. And PJ would guys out or speak publicly. But he, wasn’t going babysit guys. PJ is kind of raised in a way [of]. you’re going to sleep in the bed that you made, your situation and your circumstances. But, he’s gotten better in that, n understanding that he’s got to be able to have some tough conversations with guys that we need.
“And sometimes it’s more impactful hearing from a teammate maybe than a coach who’s harping on you all the time. So, he’s been great. I think you guys know I haven’t kind of hidden my admiration in my respect for PJ and his family for a while.”
Mustipher and the Lions take on the Boilermakers on Sept. 1. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. on FOX.
