For the second striaght week, it is looking as though Penn State will be without a couple of players expected to play some notable roles on the roster this season. According to media reports coming in from Beaver Stadium by way of Twitter, safety Keaton Ellis and running back John Lovett are not in pads during the pregame routine, a suggestion that both players will not play once again for the Nittany Lions this week.
Ellis and Lovett did not travel with the team for the season opener ar Wisconsin last week, but no official update had been given detailing their status. Penn State head coach James Franklin does not typically dive into injury updates, so it is unknown just why either player has been unavailable for the Nittany Lions.
RB John Lovett is not in pads today as the RBs warmup. He was practicing Wed. night. Tank Smith also not in pads. So, same top-four RBs as last week.
— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) September 11, 2021
Saf. Keaton Ellis also not in pads again today.
— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) September 11, 2021
Without Lovett in the lineup, supposing that is the case, Penn State’s running game will continue to be led by Noah Cain on the majority of the running opportunities, which would have been the case anyway.
Penn State’s secondary was just fine last week against the Badgers with Jaquan Brisker and Tariq Castro-Fields leading the way. The absence of Ellis may not have a significantly major impact on the outcome of Penn State’s matchup with Ball State, but it will be nice to see Ellis eventually be ready to get in the mix whenever that may be.
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