Matt Campbell Provides Key Injury Updates and More at Weekly Presser

With fall camp winding down, Penn State head coach Matt Campbell met with the media inside the Lasch Building to field questions.

Campbell provided updates on several key players recovering from injury, spoke about his team’s development throughout the offseason and highlighted some standout defenders. Here are three key takeaways from his Tuesday morning presser.

Defensive Injury Updates

Safety Jeremiah Cooper tore his ACL midway through the 2025 campaign at Iowa State and spent much of the offseason recovering, missing spring ball and a majority of the fall. While media members haven’t been able to see him in action, Cooper said he’s targeting a Week 1 return but may be delayed to Week 2 at the latest.

Campbell provided good news on that front, saying Cooper was able to get some individual work last week before fully returning to team reps earlier that morning.

Also in the secondary, sophomore cornerback Daryus Dixson has missed time this fall after being healthy to kick off camp, but he also returned to action.

“I thought he had a great start,” Campbell said. “(He) got a couple reps on Saturday, did a really great job today in practice, which was really good.”

At defensive tackle, Campbell said Dallas Vakalahi “was back on the field a little bit today” after sustaining a minor injury midway through fall camp.

Offseason Improvement

The majority of a team’s improvement comes during the offseason, while the regular season is the time to showcase that growth. Campbell said his group has made “remarkable strides” during each portion of the offseason, including spring ball, summer workouts and fall camp.

“There has to be momentum, and there has to be growth,” Campbell said. “If you can’t earn that, then you’re in deep trouble. We’ve at least earned the right to have those things.”

And while offseason growth is critical to team success, it isn’t until the pads are strapped up that adversity truly hits and the team’s ability is revealed.

“We can script this stuff in practice all we want, but to do it in front of 110,000 people and have real adversity, you have to lead through it and fight through it,” Campbell said. “All those check marks are just a check mark. It’s just another step closer to preparing yourself to learn and go. And I wish I could sit here and tell you we’re going to be perfect on Saturdays. We know that’s not true. How we respond to imperfect will define who we become.”

Defensive Dazzlers

When asked for standouts throughout camp, the 15th-year head coach heaped praise across every position group, but the first defensive name mentioned was cornerback Audavion Collins.

“AC Collins has been lights out,” Campbell said. “Man, what he practices like, what he plays like, the consistency that he has given us, just in general as a football team, has been remarkable. I’m really proud of what he’s done.”

In the trenches, Campbell said UCLA transfers Keanu Williams and Siale Taupaki have had a “remarkable” last eight days of practice under position coach Ikaika Malloe, who previously worked at UCLA.

On the edges, Campbell said Yvan Kemajour and Max Granville have stuck out, along with converted linebacker Caleb Bacon.

Shifting to Bacon’s old position room, Campbell highlighted a pair of players expected to factor in on the two-deep this fall.

“I think Cam Smith had a remarkable camp, and I thought Cael Brezina, it’s the best football I’ve watched Cael Brezina play, really maybe in his career,” Campbell said. “I go back to his freshman year, he started out lights out. You know, 14 tackles against Iowa as a true freshman, then got dinged up and has kind of worked through injuries, but finally healthy. And I really thought him and Cam are two guys that have had a great camp and just gotten better every day at linebacker.”