James Franklin met with reporters ahead of Penn State ‘s spring camp opening on Tuesday. Franklin addressed several key items, including injury updates for a few Nittany Lions.
Penn State linebacker Tony Rojas, offensive tackle Anthony Donkoh and tight end Andrew Rappleyea will not be “fully available” at the start of spring camp, Franklin said.
None of those updates are surprises. Rojas, who dealt with a nagging injury down the stretch last season, was seen recently on campus in a sling. Donkoh suffered a long-term injury at Minnesota last November. And Rappleyea suffered a season-ending injury last September.
“I don’t want to speak in terms of the length of spring because I don’t know exactly how that will play out. But they will not be fully available in the beginning of spring ball, and we’ll just see how that goes,” Franklin said. “It’s hard to say. Everybody kind of heals differently and at a different pace and how they attack treatment and those types of things. Obviously, our doctors and trainers have basic guidelines about how long certain injuries take to heal and things like that that they go by. But that’s hard to say. But they’re not completely available to start spring ball. There’s some things they’ll be able to do, and there’s some things that they won’t.”
Rojas is the biggest name of the bunch. The rising junior linebacker, after a promising freshman year, started all 16 games and earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors in 2024. Rojas racked up 58 tackles, six tackles for loss and three interceptions, including a memorable pick-six against SMU in the College Football Playoff first round at Beaver Stadium.
In Rojas’ absence (and with Kobe King moving on to the NFL), Dom DeLuca is once again expected to be a leader in the room. Rojas missing time will also provide more of an opportunity for more inexperienced players: Anthony Speca, Ta’Mere Robinson, Kari Jackson, etc.
Donkoh was a stalwart last season after beating out Nolan Rucci in the preseason to win the right tackle job. Donkoh started 10 games and was arguably the team’s best offensive lineman in that stretch. But when he went down, Rucci thrived, especially in the CFP. That position battle at right tackle will seemingly have to wait until training camp.
Rappleyea came to Penn State as one of the top tight end recruits in the country in the 2023 recruiting class. He was on the verge of a possible breakout season and started alongside Tyler Warren at West Virginia before suffering a long-term injury. Rappleyea will be competing with Khalil Dinkins, Luke Reynolds and others this year to replace Warren at tight end.