Penn State senior defensive tackle Jordan Hill is listed as day-to-day with a left knee injury, according to the team’s weekly depth chart.
Coach Bill O’Brien said a decision on Hill’s availability for Saturday’s game at Nebraska will be made toward the end of the week.
The injury occurred early in the second quarter Saturday at Purdue after Hill’s knee got caught under the pile on a one-yard loss. He was carted into the locker room but returned to the sidelines in street clothes for the second half.
Hill was told there was no ligament damage. He had an MRI on Sunday to determine the extent of the injury, which was first diagnosed as a sprain.
In other injury news, tight end Kyle Carter remains day-to-day with a left foot injury, and running back Curtis Dukes, also a contributor on special teams, is ruled out for Saturday’s game at Nebraska.
Other notes from O’Brien’s press conference:
There was no message being sent to Bill Belton by sitting him Saturday at Purdue, O’Brien said. Belton, the team’s top tailback at the start of the season, did not receive any touches last week.
Zach Zwinak is coming off a career-high rushing total last week but is listed atop the weekly depth chart with Belton. O’Brien said that position, as is the case with all positions, is open each week.
“From Day 1 that I arrived here, we talked to our guys about the importance of practice,” O’Brien said. “Everything you get is earned on the practice field. There’s no message being sent. That’s what we do. There’s a reason why you practice. You practice to compete. Life is about competition, and we try to be as fair as we can.”
