Penn State coach James Franklin defends LB Micah Parsons, denies details behind benching
Penn State leading tackle and sophomore linebacker Micah Parsons didn’t start Saturday against Minnesota. The media tried to find out why Tuesday during James Franklin’s press conference, but the coach refused to provide any details.
“Behavior modification (for reason behind benching),” he said. “That’s about as far as I’ll get into it.”
He did elaborate a little more, but in doing so, Franklin just simply said what wasn’t a reason behind the benching.
“Micah really has been good,” Franklin said. “He’s been doing well in school. This is all new to him, it’s a big change. The amount of structure, the expectations, the standards is different. 99.9 percent of time he’s been good.”
JF: Not getting into why Micah Parsons didn't start Minnesota game. "Behavior modification."
— Donnie Collins (@PennStateTT) November 12, 2019
Parsons did still play a lot against Minnesota and posted 11 total tackles. It was the third straight week he recorded at least 10 tackles. Parsons also had 2.0 tackles for loss and 1.0 sack in the 31-26 loss.
Penn State will host Indiana at 12 pm ET on Saturday. The Nittany Lions are now 8-1, but the Hoosiers are expecting a very good season and enter this weekend 7-2.