Blue White Illustrated

Penn State head coach James Franklin's rule has been steadfast and unwavering since he took the job nine months ago. Everything is fair game for reporters during a press conference. To be clear, Franklin and his players just aren't nec- essarily going to respond truthfully when it comes to injuries, and that's to be ex- pected from here on out. Understanding the relative uselessness of asking injury-specific questions, when Nittany Lion junior tight end Jesse James reached the Beaver Stadium media room podium Tuesday aCernoon, a question about the wicked hit delivered by Central Florida safety Clayton Geathers was initially avoided. One intrepid young reporter finally broached the subject, though, only to earn this response: "I'm great. I feel better than ever," James said. "Prepared really good aCer practice and we'll get ready for Akron. "That was a big hit, but I'm 270 pounds for a reason. I can take those kind of hits." Whether James' answer was sincere or not, his status for Saturday's game against Akron will likely remain a mys- tery until close to game time. That said, James' role in Penn State's first game of the season leaves little to interpreta- tion. Grabbing a career-high seven recep- tions for 60 yards, James was a target early and oCen for sophomore quarter- back Christian Hackenberg. Though Franklin cited a change in defense for James' decreased role in the rest of the game following the big hit, the Nittany Lions' head coach said the first-game performance was excellent. "I thought Jesse played extremely well, made some big plays for us, made some big blocks for us, was a tremendous pres- ence in there on the field," Franklin said. "When Jesse was an option, he got the ball… and it really just comes down to that." Finishing the game at No. 3 on Penn State's receptions list behind wideouts DaeSean Hamilton and Geno Lewis with 11 and eight, respectively, James is focused on an area of improvement that doesn't necessarily involve catching the ball. "I just want to be a little bit more con- sistent blocking," he said. "I think I did a pretty good job, but there are some points I can improve on. Other than that, you know, [I need to] keep working. There are a lot of things we can improve on as a team. We'd like to run the ball a little bit better. I think we had a pretty good game, and the tight ends, we did pretty well." 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 S E P T E M B E R 3 , 2 0 1 4 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 11 Bouncing back Despite taking a brutal hit vs. UCF, Jesse James is feeling 'better than ever' Steve Manuel COLLISION COURSE UCF safety Clayton Geathers delivered a big hit on James last week, but James said, "I'm 270 pounds for a reason. I can take those kind of hits."

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