Injury Update: Stankiewitch in for Klopacz

True freshman TE Garry Gilliam has been running
with the first team offense this week,
due to Andrew Sczcerba's nagging
shoulder and back problems.

There are probably way more injuries than one can keep track of, most of which are minor dings that sideline a player for a day or two... or three. Since we're almost exactly two weeks away from Penn State's opening kickoff (14 days from now, you'll be watching the first quarter!), I thought it would be good to do some catching up with the injuries on the team, or at least the injuries I could find in the jumble that is preseason football coverage.

C Doug Klopacz missed two days (Thursday and Friday?) with an ankle injury. In his place, backup LG Matt Stankiewitch has been taking reps on the first team offense. I would have thought Ty Howle would have done that, but looks like Stank is the more experienced guy. Plus, there were reports that Stank will stay as Klopacz's backup this season anyway.

FB Mike Zordich sustained a minor knee injury that kept him out of Friday's practice. He's expected to miss a few days into next week. Zordich was apparently lighting people up in practice this month.

TE Andrew Sczcerba has been out with nagging back and shoulder problems, with backup Garry Gilliam running with the first team. Gilliam is a fantastic young player, so there is little dropoff here.

S Drew Astorino is still hampered by that nagging shoulder injury. It's not really expected to force him to miss game time, but keep an eye on this one. Backups Andrew Dailey and Stephen Obeng-Agyapong are very good, if not just as good as Astorino (that's completely my own opinion, FYI), so this is not a major concern.

CB Derrick Thomas banged up his shoulder pretty bad, and was out most of this week. But he should be back for today's scrimmage.

CBs Stephon Morris and D'Anton Lynn returned to practice this week, after Morris was recouping from a nasty stinger, while Lynn had some kind of ankle problem.

DT Jordan Hill, who saw playing time as a true frosh last season, had a concussion earlier this month, but has returned to his spot at nose tackle behind Ollie Ogbu.

LBs Khairi Fortt and Bani Gbadyu both had concussions this month. Both are doing fine, but of course you have to watch these things.

Penn State holds a scrimmage today at 2:30 in Beaver Stadium. I'll have a short update tonight, hopefully with some more good news on the injury front.

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