GALLERY: Penn State hosts first open practice of 2025 season

With 28 days until the August 30 opener against Nevada, Penn State football opened the doors to its practice facility for the first time Saturday evening. Seven months removed from their appearance in the National Semifinal, the Nittany Lions are adjusting from the extended season as a result of the expanded College Football Playoff.

“The injury list is not great right now,” James Franklin said at media day. “But after today’s practice, it will change things. Because what happened is, you’ve got a number of guys, we played late in the season, as everybody knows, the longest season in Penn State history, played late into the season and we had some injuries that required some surgeries and things like that at the end of the season, and they are going to be considered limited until we’ve had a padded practice to show that they are able to do that.”

Despite the expectations surrounding the program this summer, it’s still business as usual for the Nittany Lions.

“I think you guys have heard me say this: I don’t really feel like the expectations have changed,” Franklin said. “You know, the expectations in the Lasch Football Building are always high. The expectations at Beaver Stadium are always high. The expectations in this community are always really high. That’s a big reason why I came here. That’s a big reason why our players chose here.”

Gallery: Penn State football opens doors to practice for first time in 2025

You can watch James Franklin’s full comments from Saturday’s media day here.

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