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A U G U S T 2 9 , 2 0 1 8 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 15 John Reid's enthusiasm for football has not changed. More than 17 months after he suffered a knee injury that forced him to miss the entire 2017 season, it would be easy to as- sume that he's even more amped up than usual for the start of the upcoming sea- son. But that's not entirely accurate. Reid's enthusiasm for the game never really vacillates. He's always amped up. "I always want to play football. My love for the game, how eager I am to play, that's never changed," Reid said. "Even when I was hurt, I still wanted to play. That's the reason I'm here. It's opened so many doors for me and it's changed my life. Football, no matter if it's my first game or last game, it's always the same excitement." That attitude has carried Reid through his Penn State career. He played in all 13 games at cornerback as a true freshman in 2015 and started two, making an impression as a dedi- cated, intensely focused player. As a sophomore, he transitioned into a new role as a full-time starter in the secondary while also leading the team in punt re- turns with 22 for 166 yards. This summer, more than a year removed from the injury that ended his junior sea- son before it began, Reid has been full-go and by all accounts has been playing at a level that meets or exceeds his perform- ance in previous years. "John was playing at a really high level and has always been an unbelievable stu- dent of the game and probably came in more mature than most freshmen," coach James Franklin said. "But like any of those guys, he's even further ahead just based on another year in the program." Reid said he feels as though he has quicker feet than he did before the injury, and he may also enjoy an advantage in that his perspective on the game has changed during his time away from the playing field. That, at any rate, is Franklin's belief. "I do think sometimes when you go through injuries like that, it puts things in perspective," he said. "You have to over- come adversity and those types of things. I think he's probably grown more than a normal year because of the adversity he's had to overcome. John has been one of the most respected guys in our program really from his freshman year, and he just con- tinues to build on that." With only a few days remaining until his much-anticipated return to Beaver Sta- dium in front of a home crowd, Reid has been transitioning from the general foot- ball prep of the first few weeks of camp to the specifics of the game plan for this week's matchup against Appalachian State. And as always, he's excited about it. "I'm excited because that means we're about to start our first game," he said. "I'm just excited. We started transition- ing more into game planning them. We watch film throughout camp, but now we're able to totally focus on App State, so it's exciting." N A T E   B A U E R | N B A U E R @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M After missing 2017 season, Reid eager to return Manny Bowen won't be returning to action for Penn State after all. The sen- ior linebacker had been reinstated this summer after two previous suspen- sions totaling five games, including the Rose and Fiesta bowls. But when the Nittany Lions released an updated ros- ter on Monday, Bowen was no longer listed. At his Tuesday news conference, coach James Franklin said Bowen's ab- sence would not force the Lions to make major changes to their plans on defense. "We love Manny," Franklin said. "We want nothing but success for him and his future. We think Manny has a very, very bright future. "There are a lot of details of this mat- ter that you guys aren't aware of, but it really has not changed a whole lot for us at this point in the season." Bowen had missed the Rose Bowl at the end of the 2016 season but was back in the starting lineup for the Nit- tany Lions' first nine games last fall. He was suspended again for unspeci- fied reasons following a loss to Michi- gan State last November. Prior to the Fiesta Bowl, it was announced that he had been dismissed from the team. But Bowen did not elect to transfer, and earlier this month Franklin said that he had been reinstated. Franklin did not say if or when Bowen could ex- pect to get back on the field, explaining that the coaching staff's priority was to ensure that he would be able to gradu- ate in December. Fellow linebacker Cam Brown said Tuesday that Bowen stepped away from football in order to focus on his studies. Bowen would have been the team's top returning tackler this year, having made 51 stops last season before being suspended. The Nittany Lions suffered another setback on defense recently, albeit a temporary one, as sophomore end Shane Simmons was nixed from the opening-day depth chart due to an in- jury. Franklin said Simmons "got dinged up a little bit during camp." "We do expect him back," the coach added. "How quickly that is is (uncer- tain) at the moment. We'll know more on Thursday." On offense, the Lions will be without true freshman receiver Justin Shorter this weekend. Shorter was reportedly enjoying an impressive preseason camp, but he isn't on this week's depth chart, and Franklin did not say when he is expected back. "We're still very, very excited about him," Franklin said. "He's big, he's physical, he reminds you a lot of Juwan Johnson, so we're excited about his fu- ture." Bowen no longer with Nittany Lions REID

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