The Iowa Hawkeyes are in good shape on the health front defensively as the 2024 college football season nears.
In his Tuesday meeting with the media, Iowa defensive coordinator Phil Parker updated the statuses of junior safety Xavier Nwankpa and sophomore safety Koen Entringer.
“Koen’s been practicing the last couple days. He’s doing a good job. I think he’s back. We’re just limiting some of his reps and watching so we don’t overload him. Xavier, it looks like he’s back at it. He should be. I thought he was going to practice here today a little bit, but I think he should be back in the next couple days,” Parker said.
Entringer suffered a knee injury during Iowa’s Citrus Bowl loss versus Tennessee. It required surgery over the offseason.
Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz was optimistic about Entringer’s progress ahead of the Hawkeyes’ annual Media Day, but Entringer was held out of Kids’ Day at Kinnick and seen wearing a boot.
“One thing I’m pretty sure of, everybody is different in terms of their healing capacities, pace, all that stuff. He’s broken every record. He’s practicing. We’re not letting him tackle anybody or anything like that. But he’s practicing. He did tweak his ankle this morning, so I don’t know if he’ll practice tomorrow or not, but doing a really good job.
“We’re going to try to be really smart because it takes, what I also know or have learned, when guys get cleared, it takes a while for them to get their confidence back. He’s really kind of running around like there’s no problem, but try to protect him from himself a little bit,” Ferentz said of Entringer at Iowa Media Day.
Nwankpa didn’t participate in Kids’ Day at Kinnick either. It sounds like Iowa is just being cautious with Nwankpa ahead of the season opener against Illinois State on Aug. 31.
“There’s injuries and then there’s pain, you know what I mean? So, what’s the difference? Do you have pain, or is it truly an injury and you’ve got to take care of it? I think that everybody kind of knows the difference of that.
“Sometimes when you’re going out here and practicing in preseason like we are, you get banged up a little bit, hitting each other, stuff like that, so there’s soreness but there’s nothing more. We’re pretty healthy here on defense I think right now,” Parker said.
Parker said Iowa’s defense has no other health issues at the present moment. The longtime Hawkeye DC also hasn’t minded the opportunities it’s provided for younger Iowa players.
“We try to manage them during the preseason here where we need some younger guys to step up. I like to see some of them third-team guys, making sure they’re getting developed. It was a good opportunity for them to understand the defense.
“Some of these guys are really experienced and the experience that Jay and Nick have at the linebacker position and Fisher, I mean, these guys are just like a coach out there on the field and they’re coaching the younger guys. Until you get out there and do it yourself, I mean, I think that’s what the younger guys need,” Parker said.
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