James Franklin's weekly media availability on Tuesday was expected to center around the Penn State's head coach's rumored new contract.

After all, Franklin himself said after Saturday's 28-0 victory over Rutgers that he would be happy to talk about the contract situation on Tuesday.

But as they say, things change.

With the Penn State Board of Trustees' Subcommittee on Compensation not set to meet until later today (you can fill in the blanks on what for), Franklin was left with little to no answers to give regarding his contract status. Which is a good thing for fans wondering more about how Penn State matches up with Michigan State on Saturday in a game that has been labeled a "pick 'em" by the oddsmakers out in Vegas.

Franklin said that after having 35 players out or playing at less than 100 percent due to a flu bug that ripped through the team against Rutgers, he believes that the Nittany Lions could be as healthy as they've been in weeks when they face the Spartans.

"Most of those guys are coming out of it and in a pretty good place," Franklin said of the players who were ill. "But as you can imagine, we've had a few more kind of go into it, with the flu. So it's a little bit of a moving target.

"Sean (Clifford) wasn't feeling great on Sunday, was feeling better on Monday as is feeling back to normal today..."

Franklin was later asked about injuries, in addition to the sweeping illness, and said that if the team can get past the flu issue, he believes it will be in as a good a spot going into the Michigan State game as it has for weeks.

"This time of the year, everybody's banged up. As you can imagine, some are healthier than others," he said. "I think once we get through this last bit of this flu, I hope, I think we can be as healthy as we've been in a couple weeks, which would be great."

When it comes to how the Nittany Lions matchup with the Spartans on the field, Franklin was asked about attacking a Michigan State pass defense that currently ranked last among all FBS schools in pass yards allowed per game.

"I think the numbers do matter, but you have to play your game plan," he said. "And you have to stay balanced, because I think if you try to become something on Saturday that you haven't been throughout the season, then you're going to get out of whack. Your players aren't going to play with the same confidence. You're not going to call the game the way that you'd normally call the game. I think that there's an awareness, obviously, and your game plan should be impact by that a little bit. But you just don't want to skew too far in one direction."

Additional News and Notes

After skirting around four or five questions about his (likely) impending contract extension, Franklin touched on a number of other on and off-field aspects that have stood out.

-Sean Clifford is expected to return to his starting role on Saturday, health permitting.

-Clifford was operating using a silent count on Saturday because he had lost his voice due to illness.

-Both Clifford and offensive tackle Caedan Wallace attempted to play, but were dealing with light-headedness and didn't feel themselves on the field.

-Wide receivers Malick Meiga and Parker Washington are close friends always work out together. Franklin feels the duo compliment one another well on the field and that Meiga can add a downfield element to the offense that hasn't been there recently with his speed and size.

-Mike Miranda and Curtis Jacobs were both missing on Saturday due to illness and are expected to return this week, with both expected to practice on Tuesday.

-Regarding the transfer portal, Franklin said he'd love to have 10-year statistics on numbers of transfers and how they worked out to evaluate how many scholarships to set aside for them, but that information isn't yet available. He added that the high level that the team is currently recruiting at makes it tough to turn down an impressive high school prospect, and that he'd prefer to build through recruiting, but that the staff will always do its due diligence with regards to the portal, something he believes isn't taking place around the country.