With the spring practices canceled, weight rooms off limits and student-athletes having to head back home during the coronavirus pandemic, football players returning to college had to get creative with their workout plans. Penn State linebacker Jesse Luketa had the benefit of working out with professional athletes during that time.

Although, those professional athletes did play a different sport.

During a Zoom meeting reporters on Tuesday afternoon, Luketa said that while he was in Canada during the campus shutdown he was able to train with a handful of NHL players. One of those individuals was Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Working out with professional athletes, regardless of sport, is a tremendous way to stay in shape, even during the campus shutdown.

Luketa took on a bigger role with the Nittany Lions a season ago. Last fall, he totaled 24 tackles and four pass break-ups, helping Penn State get to 11-2 on the season. He’ll be expected to be an even bigger contributor in 2020, alongside start linebacker Micah Parsons.

Even though he wasn’t on campus, it sounds like Luketa got the training regiment necessary to take a big step.