Penn State practice report: What did we learn about the defense on the first day of drills?

Penn State football is officially off and running with preseason camp. The 11th iteration of summer practices under head coach James Franklin starts today and will lead the Nittany Lions to their Aug. 31 opener at West Virginia.

Wednesday marked the first chance to see first-year defensive coordinator Tom Allen in action during a camp setting after watching him guide his players through spring practices back in March and April.

“On the defensive side of the ball, a name that you guys are all familiar with in Tom Allen,” Franklin said at Big Ten Media Days. “He was a head coach in this conference for a long time, so he’s got great perspective there. And Tom was in a position where he did not really need to take a job. So he spent a ton of time making sure that Penn State was the right fit for him and he was the right fit for us.”

Back on the practice field as defensive coordinator, here is some of what we saw from Allen’s group on Wednesday afternoon:

Penn State preseason practice No. 1: Top takeaways on the defense

Two prominent absences

The first and overwhelmingly most consequential insight appeared on the defensive side of the ball. Or, in this instance, didn’t appear.

Neither defensive end Jameial Lyons nor linebacker Kaveion Keys were with the defense at practice on Wednesday afternoon. Asked about where they stand with the program currently, Penn State provided a prepared statement to explain their absences.

“They are on interim suspension handling a personal matter and we will not have any further comment.”

Without further comment, the suspsensions open huge questions for Penn State as it opens camp on the defensive side of the ball. Lyons was frequently discussed this offseason as a ball of potential coming off an impressive debut campaign with the program. Keys, meanwhile, helped to solidify depth at linebacker for the Nittany Lions with the move of Abdul Carter to defensive end this offseason.

With both players now in limbo as preseason practice begins, Allen and the Nittany Lion defense are similarly in limbo as they prepare for a season that may or may not include the presences of both Lyons and Keys.

One important return

During his pre-Blue White Game radio show, Franklin touched on the status of one important piece of the Nittany Lions’ plans on the defensive line. Specifically, without Old Dominion transfer Alonzo Ford able to return to participation after suffering a season ending injury ahead of his first year in the program, Franklin left open intriguing possibilities for the defensive tackle.

“He’s not back yet. He’s close to being back. I think this summer, he will be full go. I’m not talking about summer camp. I’m talking about summer training,” said Franklin. “Besides that, he’s been great. We just haven’t really seen a whole lot.

“His attitude has been great. He’s done really well in the classroom. He’s obviously lived in the treatment room. The strength staff has been able to work with him, the trainers that have been working with him, everybody loves him. There’s just not a whole lot that we’ve been able to see up to this point, other than the stuff that we saw when we recruited him.”

Wednesday, Ford put Franklin’s sentiment into action. Back on the field and participating fully with the defense, he looked to be all of his listed 6-foot-2, 319 pounds, and moved without issue.

Positional clarification

On Penn State’s roster, Tyrece Mills is listed as a linebacker. The juco transfer from Lackawanna has been back and forth between safety and linebacker.

Wednesday during the open period of practice to the media, he was practicing with the safeties.

What’s it mean? He’s filling the “Lion” spot as a reserve for the Nittany Lion defense this season. But at least at the start of practice, Mills is going to be with the safeties to fulfill that role.

Talk about it with our premium members in the Lions Den, here!

The post Penn State practice report: What did we learn about the defense on the first day of drills? appeared first on On3.