During his weekly press conference ahead of Penn State's season opener against West Virginia this weekend, Penn State head coach James Franklin told the media that redshirt sophomore wide receiver Kaden Saunders is working his way back from some 'bumps and bruises'.
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"Kaden's got some bumps and bruises," Franklin said. "He's missed some time, so we're working through that right now and obviously we're hopeful that he'll be able to go this week and be full go and be able to factor back in for us."
The Columbus, Ohio native prior to the bumps and bruises was having a good fall camp for the Nittany Lions and seemed likely to have a bigger role in 2024 after recording eight receptions for 77 yards and a touchdown over the past two seasons.
The 2022 signee was a Rivals top-100 prospect. However, Saunders to his own addmission 'wasn't prepared' for the college game when he enrolled in 2022, especially from a physical standpoint. In result, he fell behind and never was really able to gain too much traction that season.
After a dissapointing 2022 considering the expectations originally surrounding the former four-star prospect, Saunders appeared in all 12 games last season for Penn State, recording six receptions for 56 yards and one touchdown.
It wasn an improvement but it was still far from the impact that many would've expected from Saunders when he originally signed with the Nittany Lions.
With that, it will be a key storyline to watch early this season to see if Saunders, building momentum heading into his third season will be able to work through the bumps and bruises and avoid any setbacks.
From a Penn State perspective, the possibility of not having Saunders would certaintly be a hit to the program's wide receiver room but would leave its biggest impact on special teams.
Last season, Saunders was the Nittany Lions' primary punt returner, returning 13 punts for 88 yards. Their alternative punt returner, Daequan Hardy is now vying for a spot on the Buffalo Bills roster.
If Saunders isn't ready to go on Saturday, it leaves a major question mark of who will be tapped to be the Nittany Lions' punt returner against West Virginia. In what is expectated to be a rather close game with the spread currently sitting at -8.5 in favor of Penn State, special teams could end up being a crucial part of Saturday's matchup in Morgantown, and any special teams gaffs could prove costly.
What are Penn State's known injuries heading into week one?
With four days to go until the start of the season, there are several injuries for the Nittany Lions that are now publicly known. That being said, James Franklin wouldn't call any of them 'season-ending' heading into the fall.
"It's hard to say anybody has a season ending injury. I usually term them as 'long-term' because even guys who have injuries that's going to keep them out for a while we think a lot of those guys we should have you know for the playoffs or late in the season."
That being said, which Nittany Lions are expected to be out for the 'long term?'
Quarterback Jaxon Smolik suffered a long-term injury late in spring camp and the expectation was that he would be out for the 2024 season potentially. At Big Ten Media Days, Franklin, while not calling it a season ending injury, did infer that it could be a while until the redshirt freshman is ready to go.
"Smolik is going to be a little bit longer in this process until he's full go. Make it difficult for him during training camp to be competing for a job but he's done a really good job mentally."
Additionally, defensive end Zuriah Fisher and Keon Wylie also suffered a long-term injuries earlier in the offseason but Franklin at Big Ten Media Days told the media that Nittany Lions expect both to return at some point this fall.
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