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The main concern, James Franklin said, is not when his injured linebackers will return, but how they will respond when they do.
Jason Cabinda is the one who is most likely to be back on the field on Saturday when Penn State hosts No. 2 Ohio State. But Franklin will be watching him and fellow linebackers Brandon Bell and Jake Cooper closely on the practice field.
“I think there’s a chance we could get Cabinda back this week,” the Penn State coach said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. “We all have to just kind of remember that he hasn’t played football or practiced in a long time. So to think you’re just going to jump back in there after missing that amount of time, is going to be a challenge. Same thing with Brandon Bell. So we’ll see. And same thing with Cooper.
“There’s a chance we could get those guys back, but we’ll see. We’ll see how it plays out. Like I said, it’s not like last week they practiced and this week we’re hoping to get them back. They haven’t practiced at all.”
Cabinda, the starter in the middle, has missed the last five games with a thumb injury that has kept him out since the opener against Kent State. Bell, who starts on the strong-side, suffered an apparent knee injury against Pitt a week later, and though he returned to finish that game, has not played since.
Cooper is one of a handful of backups who has also gone down in the meantime, leaving with an undisclosed injury in the fourth quarter against Minnesota in Week 5.
Before their bye week, the Nittany Lions started Brandon Smith in the middle, flanked by Manny Bowen and converted safety Koa Farmer. True freshman Cam Brown has also been in the mix.
While all of those understudies have had their moments — Smith, a walk-on, was even named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after the last game — the Lions could badly use the experience and talent of their starters against the high-powered Buckeyes.
Still, Franklin doesn’t want that temptation to cloud the coaches’ judgment.
“We just need to make sure … that we evaluate it and make sure that we are not just throwing them back in there because we are excited that they’re back and make sure that they’re ready, Franklin said.
“And depending on what the medical staff says and how much they are going to be able to practice and how much they are going to be able to do is really going to decide what we even do with them. It may be even a non-factor this week.”
Some players, at least, have a more optimistic outlook.
“Having a bunch of guys back from injury will help,” tight end Mike Gesicki said. “The bye helped us out tremendously.”
One player whose status isn’t in question is punter Blake Gillikin. The true freshman was nursing an injury before the Maryland game and had to come out in the second half. Franklin said Gillikin would be “full-go” this week.
Depth chart updates
None of the banged-up linebackers appeared on Penn State’s weekly depth chart, but there were still a few items of note.
The Lions are in line to keep Brendan Mahon over at right tackle in the wake of Andrew Nelson’s knee injury. Paris Palmer would get his first start of the season at left tackle.
As it stands now, Chasz Wright would be the top backup at tackle. But if the Lions were to lose either Mahon or Palmer, then the coaches would likely pull the redshirt of true freshman Will Fries.
“I think Mahon’s playing really well right now so we’re pleased with him,” Franklin said. “He’s done a nice job for us, really all season. Like all of us, there’s some times where I think he would like to have a do-over but overall, I think he’s playing extremely well.
“Paris has played a lot of football. Not necessarily this year but has played a lot of football for us. It’s not like we’re putting a guy in there that has not had experience playing big-time football before. So that’s a positive.”
On defense, junior Curtis Cothran is in line to get his first career start at the three-technique tackle spot. Redshirt freshman Kevin Givens had gotten the nod there in each of the first six games.
Cothran was held out for the first four games by the coaches and was ejected on a targeting call in his first game back, causing him to miss the second half against Minnesota and the first half against Maryland.
Penn State uses a heavy rotation on the defensive line and Franklin said Cothran, Givens and Antoine White will all see time at that spot.
“We’re going to rotate those guys, but it’s not anything more than that,” Franklin said. “We just feel like Curtis is earning the opportunity to step in there and be the starter.”
