BREAKING: James Franklin announces Penn State football star DB KJ Winston has a ‘long-term’ injury

Against Bowling Green on September 7, Penn State football safety KJ Winston left the game in the first half with an apparent injury. The Nittany Lion star did not return to the matchup where Penn State took home a 34-27 victory. Now, the team is preparing for a new challenge against Kent State on Saturday, but will Winston be on the field? On Wednesday after practice, James Franklin confirmed that Winston’s injury appears to be more lengthy than what some were expecting.

On Monday, James Franklin shared the following with the Penn State media.

“I don’t really have any new information to share with you guys at this stage [on Winston],” James Franklin said during his weekly press conference Monday. “I probably will; I would think probably post-practice when I see you guys later in the week.”

Now, following practice on Wednesday evening, Franklin has confirmed the timeline of Winston’s injury. As the Penn State football team will have to wait for KJ Winston to return to the field. James Franklin confirmed that Winston is dealing with a ‘long-term’ injury.

Unfortunate news for one of the most important pieces of Tom Allen’s defense. Winston opened up the season with 12 tackles at West Virginia but will now be sidelined recovering from his injury suffered in the first half against Bowling Green.

Who will step up in Winston’s absence?

Mandatory Credit: Matthew O’Haren-USA TODAY Sports

Expect to see a lot more of Dejuan “Dae-Dae” Lane in the Nittany Lion secondary this weekend. A true freshman who has received the ‘green light’ from James Franklin meaning that he will not redshirt this season.

“Dae-Dae Lane is the next guy that we’ve been trying to get reps for,” Franklin stated on Monday. “Obviously, when you are talking about Jay Reed and Zakee, those two guys played a ton of football for us and will need to continue. Dae-Dae is another guy that we’ve been trying to get more reps and more experience.

“That will be important, but we’re going to have to develop a few more guys. Especially, hopefully, we’ll see timing-wise how this whole thing will play out, but definitely, for the short-term, we’re going to have to develop some more guys.

“Dae-Dae is going to be really important this week and obviously moving forward as well. He’s a guy that we’ve been trying to get more involved. We had planned on playing him more last week [versus Bowling Green]. It didn’t play out that way, but he’s probably the guy that I would say our focus is on the most right now.”

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