Penn State head coach James Franklin met with the media Tuesday afternoon at Beaver Stadium for his typical weekly press conference.

The session was anything but the usual, though.

Opening his press conference with a prepared statement following the revelation of a fan letter disparaging to safety Jonathan Sutherland that was released via social media early Monday evening, Franklin sought to provide his perspective on the topic.

What resulted was a more than two-minute statement expressing his sentiments regarding the game of football and its ability to bring people together, as well as his full-throated support of Sutherland.

Here is Franklin’s opening statement, in full:

“I would like to open up with a statement. Something that I was thinking about laying in my bed last night that I put together that I wanted to put out there.

“The football that I know and love brings people together and embraces differences. Black, White, brown, Catholic, Jewish or Muslim, rich or poor, rural or urban, Republican or Democrat, long hair, short hair, no hair. They are all in that locker room together. Teams all over this country are the purest form of humanity that we have. We don't judge. We embrace differences. We live, we learn, we grow, we support and we defend each other. We're a family.

“Penn State Football, Penn State University, and Happy Valley provide the same opportunities to embrace one another 12 Saturdays each fall. PSU Football brings people together like very few things on this planet. 110,000 fans from all different backgrounds throughout our region, from all different parts of the state; and they are hugging and high-fiving and singing Sweet Care line together.

“This is my football. This is the game that I love and most importantly, my players that I love and will defend like sons. Ultimately this is the definition and embodiment of what we are all about.

“Lastly, Jonathan Sutherland is one of the most respected players in our program. He's the ultimate example of what our program is all about. He's a captain. He's a Dean's List honor student. He's confident. He's articulate. He's intelligent. He's thoughtful. He's caring and he's committed. He's got two of the most supportive parents and I would be so blessed if my daughters would marry someone with his character and integrity one day.

“Now, back to Iowa. Iowa. Iowa. Iowa. Iowa. Iowa. Iowa and Iowa.”

Tuesday afternoon, then, Sutherland provided his own response to the letter-writer, posted to social media.

Later, when asked how he’s trying to steer the program’s attention back to its upcoming trip to face No. 17-ranked Iowa this weekend in Iowa City, Franklin said it can and will be done by redirecting everyone’s focus to football.

In that spirit, let’s take a look at some of the other news and notes items to emerge from Franklin’s Tuesday press conference:

1) Given Penn State’s outstanding start defensively this season, the group currently holding top five positions nationally in total defense (No. 4), rushing defense (No. 3), and most important, scoring defense (No. 2), Franklin was asked how - if at all - the Nittany Lions could improve on that side of the field.

Praising the performance of his defense to date, as well as that of his No. 5-ranked scoring offense, Franklin laid out a cheat sheet of improvements he’d like to see on both sides of the ball.

In short, turning the ball over less frequently on offense while creating more on defense, and creating explosive plays offensively and eliminating them on defense. At present, the Nittany Lions are tied for 52nd nationally with a +0.20 turnover margin.

“But you know, it's hard. It's hard to find a whole lot of things to be critical about with our defense right now,” Franklin said. “I think the one area we could improve on is turnovers, getting a few turnovers. We'll see.

“Last time I gave a little bit of criticism in this meeting was against the defensive line and they weren't real happy about it, but they have responded fairly well. So maybe if I bring up these turnovers, maybe we'll have, you know, ten turnovers in the game on Saturday.”

2) A few of Tuesday’s questions to Franklin centered around the performance of redshirt sophomore quarterback Sean Clifford in his first five games as a starter, specifically as he continues to try to improve his deep ball as well as how his leadership role has developed.

Saying he “loves” Clifford’s approach, being “aggressive” toward his work in the weight room, in film study, and from a leadership perspective, Franklin added that he has embodied the spirit of the position from the onset.

“He is fiery and he's competitive, and he understands how to prepare. He understands that playing the quarterback position is a lifestyle,” Franklin said. “You know, you're not the quarterback when you step on the football field. You're the quarterback when you leave your house in the morning. You're the quarterback when you go to bed and put your head on the pillow. Everybody knows that you're the quarterback on campus, and you need to understand that.”

As for his deep ball, Franklin provided a detailed answer that much of the focus on the quarterback position is misdirected when it comes to technique.

Noting that during the recruiting process, “everybody wants to focus on the quarterback’s release,” Franklin said that the focus should be elsewhere.

“We're big believers that the game of football is played from the ground up at every single position and if you start with a really good stance and start and you've got clean footwork to allow the quarterback to be in rhythm so he's on time with his throws, then you have a chance to be successful,” Franklin said. “The old days of the three-step drop, the three-hit-and-throw, the three-and-a-hitch, the five-hit-and-throw, the five-and-hitch, and the seven-step drop, as well, that was pretty distinct, pretty clear.

“Where now, with all the different things you're doing in an RPO offense, with the ride and decide and things like that, it actually makes the footwork even more challenging. There have just been some times where we haven't been as clean with our footwork and it is hard to be consistently accurate if your feet aren't where you need them to be, where you want them to be.”

3) Franklin’s answer regarding Clifford’s deep ball offered some insight into that specific phase of the game, but by the time he finished, he provided a tidy encapsulation of his perspective on the program as a whole.

Acknowledging that each passing week of the season will bring with it an even smaller margin of error, Franklin said that the best method of succeeding and eliminating mistakes is by putting a focus on the building blocks of the game.

“We've got to make sure that we're putting Sean and the offense and the defense and the special teams in the best chance to be successful, and putting our players in the best chance to be successful and that's always going to come back to fundamentals,” Franklin said. “I think that's one of the things that you have to be careful of is at the end of the day, the most consistent programs, people get way too caught up in the schemes -- and schemes matter, don't get me wrong -- but typically, the most successful, the most consistent programs are going to be the most fundamentally sound, week-in and week-out. Who blocks the best; who tackles the best; who protects the football, those type of things.

“At a certain point, you really have to be really good in every area, but we're always going to be a fundamentalist program.”

4) Similar to his other detailed answers regarding the offense’s pursuit of improvement, Franklin was later asked about targets and touches for star receiver K.J. Hamler and, maybe more important, the dedication of resources opponents are throwing at the redshirt sophomore.

Saying that he expects opponents to devote plenty of attention to Hamler through the rest of the season, Franklin added that not only is it important to put the ball in Hamler’s hands in quality situations for him to make an impact, but also it is important to take what defenses are giving as a result of that attention.

“We’ve got to put him in position to be able to make plays for us and get the ball in his hands, but not be so hard-headed about it because obviously no different in football, no different in life, no different in business, no different in anything else, when you're trying to take one thing away, you're creating an opportunity somewhere else, and you know, that's in every walk of life,” Franklin said. “I think we've done a pretty good job of that. Obviously, we've got other guys that make it challenging to do that because the defensive coordinators know that, as well. When they are bracketing K.J., then Jahan [Dotson] is probably one-on-one. Daniel George is probably one-on-one. [Pat] Freiermuth is probably one-on-one. Shorter is probably one-on-one. So on and so forth.

“It also removes a guy from maybe fitting in the run game the same way as they normally would. We have to understand that and that's where kind of the chess match comes in.”