Penn State's Breneman builds off lost year

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - As Adam Breneman prepares for the 2015 season, he has a renewed sense of motivation. Last season, the Nittany Lions tight end was sidelined by a knee injury, which forced him to refocus his life.

"I learned how to live with myself without football for a while," Breneman said Tuesday as Penn State continued spring practice ahead of its April 18 Blue-White Game at Beaver Stadium. "I learned about myself outside of football and that was kind of neat, even though I always wanted to be playing."

With more time to focus on school last fall, Breneman, who will be a redshirt sophomore in the fall, earned a 3.9 GPA. The rehab process taught him patience and made him appreciate the support of his teammates, particularly linebacker Ben Kline, who was also out last season with a torn Achilles tendon.

Returning to spring practice, Breneman, who came to Penn State as part of Bill O'Brien's first recruiting class with celebrated quarterback Christian Hackenberg, joins a tight end group that includes Mike Gesicki, Brent Wilkerson, and Kyle Carter. As the entire offense is looking to improve, the tight ends are focusing on blocking. Breneman said coach James Franklin stresses the importance of versatility at the position.

"If you can't block as a tight end, you're just a big slow wide receiver," Breneman said. And "if there is no threat of us in the running game, you may as well have another wideout who is running a 4.4 out there. . . . I think that was a mentality change that we've had as a tight end group."

Wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton anticipates Breneman's return will be crucial to the success of Penn State's offense next season.

This spring, another plus, Hamilton said, has been more positivity and confidence from Hackenberg, who will be a junior after completing two seasons as Penn State's starting quarterback.

Hamilton said he's focused on improving his own pass-catching skills and having the offense work more cohesively.

When asked what younger wideouts have impressed him so far, Hamilton praised redshirt freshman DeAndre Thompkins.

"The first few days we came out, DeAndre opened up a lot of people's eyes," Hamilton said. "You can tell he put in a lot of work in the offseason. . . . You can tell he's ready to compete."

Penn State's Blue-White game is set to kickoff at 4 p.m. on April 18.