Notebook: James Franklin wraps up Penn State spring practice

Speaking to the media Friday night after Penn State wrapped up its 15th and final practice of the spring, head coach James Franklin expressed his satisfaction.

"I thought we had a good spring," he said. "We got a lot of work in. We got a lot installed on offense, defense and special teams. We invested a lot of time on special teams, something that we believe could be a differentiator for us."

Now, as the Nittany Lions move forward, Franklin said he plans to meet one-on-one with each player to provide feedback on their spring and give them areas for improvement as the Nittany Lions prepare for summer camp.

Let's get into some key takeaways from his press conference, below:

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Jesse Luketa has been a noteworthy absence in both of Penn State's open practice sessions this spring, and Franklin confirmed Friday night that Luketa has not participated in any live action this spring.

Franklin also offered his assessment of Penn State's present middle linebacker situation, noting that he sees both Luketa and fellow veteran linebacker Ellis Brooks as starters for the Nittany Lions moving forward, whether in the middle or at one of the outside spots.

"We see both of those guys and have a plan for both of those guys," Franklin said. "They're both experienced, really good football players that we're excited about and are going to have significant roles for us."

In Luketa's case, Penn State might get creative in order to make that happen.

Franklin said the Nittany Lions have had discussions with Luketa about potentially seeing some time at other positions that Penn State thinks he has the ability to play.

"I think it's not only going to help our defense, but it's also going to help Jesse in his future at the next level," Franklin said. "Those are some of the in-depth conversations that we'll get into in coach [Brent] Pry's meeting with Jesse as well as my meeting with Jesse."

Asked about the two-deep situation among his quarterbacks, Franklin reaffirmed his concerns about the lack of experience Penn State has behind Sean Clifford.

"I don't think you're ever comfortable at the quarterback position until those guys have gotten game reps," Franklin said. "Obviously the practice reps are critical and very, very important. But having guys that don't have game reps and haven't played critical, critical game reps at significant moments, you're never completely comfortable because you never know how guys are going to react when they get in there."

Penn State's quarterbacks did not throw any interceptions in the scrimmage portion of the open practice on Friday night, which is an encouraging tidbit for Nittany Lions fans after both Clifford and understudy Ta'Quan Roberson were guilty of turning the ball over last week inside Beaver Stadium.

Franklin was also asked about the challenge of quarterback development, and pointed out that it's much more complicated for several reasons.

There's more things on a quarterback's plate, Franklin reasoned, and they can be impacted more by the performances of the players around them. .

"Having a strong cast around your quarterback is going to make a difference," Franklin said.

Overall, Franklin said he's pleased with the spring Clifford had — and the same applies to Roberson and true freshman Christian Veilleux.

"But, between now and [summer], there's a lot that needs to get worked on," Franklin said. "I think that's one of the exciting things with the quarterback position is you can work on that. You can throw routes on air all summer. You can do one-on-ones against the DBs all summer. You can do player-led seven-on-sevens all summer.

"There's a lot that can be done that's player-led and player-driven between now and training camp, and the quarterbacks as well as everybody else needs to do that."

Transfer running back John Lovett did not make an appearance in Penn State's first open practice, but he did participate in Friday's scrimmage, scoring a touchdown.

"He was limited for health reasons," Franklin said of Lovett's previous absence.

Lovett has flashed plenty this spring, despite that, Franklin said.

"It's obvious you've got a veteran guy," Franklin said. "He's been around, he's played a lot of football. He was very respected at the place he came from, so kind of what we thought.

"He can run. He's got the ability to make people miss. He's got that extra gear that we need, a guy that we think can be a home run threat for us."

Franklin said the weight room will be key for Lovett — and Devyn Ford — over the summer. He wants them to add more "good weight" so they have the ability to fall forward when needed.

"We think he's going to be right there in the hunt of this thing during training camp," Franklin said of Lovett.

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