James Franklin: Penn State LB Tony Rojas among Nittany Lions not available to start spring practice

Penn State football kicks off spring practice on Tuesday, a process that will conclude 32 days from now with the annual Blue-White Game. While James Franklin isn’t ready to rule them out for that final spring practice, he confirmed that several Nittany Lions will not be fully available to take the field this week.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Franklin explained that junior linebacker Tony Rojas, as well as redshirt sophomore tight end Andrew Rappleyea and redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Anthony Donkoh, are still recovering from injury.

“Yeah, so I don’t want to speak in terms of the length of spring ball, because I don’t know exactly how that will play out,” Franklin said. “But they will not be fully available in the beginning of spring ball, and we’ll just see how that goes. It’s hard to say; everybody kind of heals differently and at a different pace, and how they attack treatment, and those types of things.

“Obviously, our doctors and trainers kind of have basic guidelines about how long certain injuries take to heal and things like that that they go by, but that’s hard to say. But they’re not they’re not completely available to start spring ball. There’s some things they’ll be able to do, and there’s some things that they won’t.”

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Rojas was seen with his arm in a sling throughout much of the winter. Starting all 16 games, Rojas was fifth on the team with 58 tackles in 2024. He also added three interceptions during his sophomore season, including a critical pick-six during the Nittany Lions’ College Football Playoff win over SMU.

Rappleyea appeared in the season opener against West Virginia before suffering a long-term injury. Donkoh battled through injuries throughout last fall, making 10 starts before missing the remainder of the season following the Nittany Lions’ November 23 win over Minnesota.

Penn State football will take the field for the Blue-White Game on April 26.

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