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Penn State Linebackers Shine: Top Takeaways from Camp Practice #1

Headshot 5x7 reduced qualityby: Thomas Frank Carr08/05/25ThomasFrankCarr
Keon Wylie Penn State Football on3
Penn State linebacker Keon Wylie and his teammates were the clear winners in a perimeter blocking drill with the tight ends during training camp. (Photo: Steve Manuel/BWI)

The Penn State football team is full steam ahead on training camp. The team opened up the facility on Saturday for a day-long meeting with the media, including press conferences, player interviews, and practice. We’ll cover all of it today on the BWI Live Show. Reporter Nate Bauer was at the end and shares his insights and thoughts about the program through the first week.

Join the show live at 10 a.m. on YouTube! The best way to stay updated on our live events, post highlights, and press conferences is to subscribe to the channel right now. If you can’t join us live, you can always catch the replay 24/7 on the channel, here in this article, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Penn State practice observations

We’ll start with the part that fans want to know the most about: practice. BWI was at the extended viewing on Saturday and has his thoughts and observations from the evening. We’ll also show you select highlights from the 40 minutes that we were inside the gates of Lasch. From the linebackers to the receivers, we have thoughts on what the team showed us. We’ll also discuss our most interesting conversations from Saturday in the one-on-one sessions.

For more of those, check out the features on the site.

Between the Lines

Next, we’ll discuss what Penn State’s head coach, James Franklin, and his assistants had to say during the podium press conferences to start the day. Bauer will put on his interpretation hat and discuss what Franklin and his top assistants were saying when they spoke to the media in the Beaver Stadium press room.

We’ll cover Franklin’s comments about injuries to start camp, Andy Kotelnicki’s comments about selfless wide receivers, and Franklin’s timeline for the backup QB battle between Jaxon Smolik and Ethan Grunkemeyer.

We’ll also discuss the news that broke just before camp about redshirt junior wide receiver Kaden Saunders. The fourth-year player has battled injuries throughout his career, and now is out with another long-term injury. We’ll recap his position in the pecking order and review his year so far.

We’ll also take your questions and comments throughout the show! Join us live to be part of the chat during the show, and we’ll get your takes and get your thoughts about anything we didn’t discuss! The best place to follow Penn State football all season long is Blue White Illustrated!