Penn State's John Reid expected to be "full-go" for spring drills

Nearly one year after he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during a spring practice session, Penn State cornerback John Reid will be back for next month's start of spring ball and head coach James Franklin says, "We are expecting him to be full-go."

"He's participating in the morning workouts right now," Franklin said Wednesday on a conference call. "Obviously there's no rush to bring him back. He's played a lot of football for us. But I know the coaches are excited about working with him. I know John is excited about getting back on the field."

Reid, who starred at St. Joseph's Prep, started all 14 games in his sophomore season of 2016. He was injured last April 1 but remained involved with the team even though he did not play, providing advice and support to his teammates in the secondary and helping with signals. He also made every Big Ten road trip.

"We're expecting him to have a huge role on our team," Franklin said, "not only as a player but also as a leader. He's got so much respect from our players and from our coaches. It will be exciting to get him back full-go in the spring, and the summer camp."

In an interview before the Fiesta Bowl, Reid said he worked hard in his rehabilitation and felt that he would be more explosive when he returned because he worked on muscles that he hadn't been working on before.

"I'm going to come back healthy," he said. "That's the biggest thing for me. I don't think I'm going to miss a step at all. I think I'm going to be way better than what I was before. I've got a different perspective. I just feel really good about the whole situation."