Penn State is coming off of its  bye week and has a date with Illinois this Saturday.

The Nittany Lions are dealing with some injuries right now, and one of the most devastating injuries is on the defensive side of the ball.

DT P.J. Mustipher is out for the year with an injury.

Franklin talked about the injury at length on Tuesday in his weekly press conference.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for other guys to step up and do good things on defense,” said Franklin. According to OnwardSports.

Franklin also talked about the resiliency of Mustipher and how he is handling the injury.

“He is just a tremendous young man…he’s handling it extremely well, like he does everything,” said Franklin. According to OnwardSports.

Franklin’s daughter had a very sweet gesture to wish Mustipher well in his recovery. She made cupcakes for him.

Mustipher had 21 total tackles, 3 tackles for loss and 1 sack on the year.

The Nittany Lions face the Illini at noon ET on ABC.