8/31/2022 football Edit

Penn State versus Purdue - Injury Report

Justin Morganstein • Happy Valley Insider

Staff Writer

Penn State is set to open up its 2022 campaign on the road Thursday as it takes on Purdue in West Lafayette.

For the second year in a row, the Nittany Lions will begin their season in a hostile road environment and will need contributions from the entire roster in order to secure a win.

The same can be said for the Boilermakers who have dropped their last nine matchups with Penn State, four of those being at home.

So with depth and health being of importance for this early-season Big Ten game, here is the injury outlook for both programs.

Penn State:

Coming out of preseason camp, Penn State is relatively healthy with no glaring issues for any of its expected starters.

One player that James Franklin did speak about in his weekly media availability was transfer guard JB Nelson who is expected to compete for reps throughout the season at the guard spots.

Franklin praised the progression of Nelson after dealing with an injury for a portion of camp that had “set him back."

The coaching staff will likely try to ease him in and with Landon Tengwall, Sal Wormley, and Hunter Nourzad all in the mix in the interior for the Nittany Lions, they should be fine for this game.

Wormley as well as defensive linemen PJ Mustipher and Adisa Issac are expected to be full-go for Penn State in Week one after suffering season-ending injuries last year.

Purdue

Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm gave some injury updates for his program on Monday as he spoke to the media prior to the Boilermakers' season-opener.

Brohm’s team came into camp this year with multiple players still recovering from prior injuries sustained, some of which were key starters.

He said that he believes starting wideout Broc Thompson and veteran cornerbacks Corey Trice and Jamari Brown would be ready to play against the Nittany Lions but that “it is going to be important that they play well but are kept healthy.”

That could be something to monitor as the game goes on.

He also announced that two crucial defensive players in Branson Deen and Jalen Graham will also be ready to go after suffering some minor injuries in camp as well. Each dealing with a hamstring issue.

While those three players appear to be in for the Boilermakers, Brohm announced that Kansas State transfer cornerback Tee Denson will not only miss the matchup against Penn State but will be out for “an extended period of time.”

That could hurt the potential depth in the secondary and is why having both Trice and Brown healthy for this game was essential.

Among others on the injury report are tight end Garrett Miller and defensive tackle Damarjhe Lewis who have both sustained season-ending injuries which will hurt the depth of both of those respective positional groups.