Thursday notebook: Lee on track to play for Saturday

As long as Nebraska quarterback Tanner Lee passes a couple of last tests, all signs point to the New Orleans natives being ready to play and possibly start for NU's game at Penn State on Saturday.

Lee has been in the concussion protocol all week, after suffering an "impact migraine" last week at Minnesota.

Lee was held out of practices on both Monday and Tuesday, but NU head coach Mike Riley said Lee has practiced both on Wednesday and Thursday and has shown no signs of any setbacks.

"He's actually going through the protocol, and if he does not have a setback as of today and everything checks out after this practice heading into tomorrow's walk-thru, he will be cleared to play," Riley said of Lee. "How we do that, we have not decided what that means about playing time."

In the meantime, redshirt freshman Patrick O'Brien continues to prepare himself in practice to be the starter. Riley said he likes what's seen from O'Brien.

"Really well, I've been impressed," Riley said of O'Brien's week of practice. "I told you I was impressed with how he went into the game. For the first two days this week he took all the reps and did very well and was very sharp. Then he kind of split them the last couple of days."

The good thing about this situation though is the fact Lee has been on the practice field all four days. He's been around the game plan all week, and he logged two full practices on Wednesday and Thursday.

However, Riley will continue to take a cautious approach until they find out he's officially cleared.

"I think everything has really been smooth," Riley said. "There have been no real glitches. He was not that guy that was prohibited. He watched practice on Monday. He's been around the whole time, and he's basically been in tune with the game plan. Whatever the doctors have allowed him to do, he's done that and it's been pretty seamless."

"I don't think he'll be hurt by the time that he's missed. It is all going to be about medically cleared to play."

- Sean Callahan

The weather conditions at Penn State are not going to be ideal for Nebraska. The forecast is calling for rain all day, and PSU plays their games on a grass surface.

To get ready for what they are going to see Saturday, Riley has had his football team on grass all week.

"You just have to kind of play the game that you are in," Riley said. "We spent almost all of our time during the week on the grass. Tuesday was wet and kind of gray and the grass was wet almost all day.

"Hopefully that was good for us. I don't know if you can ever actually duplicate a real, real storm. We've been on the grass, you've got handle the ball and I think sometimes the people that handle a situation, depending how bad it is, whoever handles it the best, has the best chance to win. Taking care of the ball - all that stuff. And a lot of times, unless it's windy, kids do all the stuff they need to do - throw, catch - any way."

-Sean Callahan

As bleak as the situation may seem right now for Riley, he certainly hasn’t let it show in his interactions with his staff of players.

Known as a coach who has always remained even-keeled regardless of how good or bad things have gotten during his long career, Riley has maintained that approach while speculation over his future at Nebraska grows by the day.

“Like they say, when times get hard that’s when people’s true colors come out,” running backs coach Reggie Davis said. “He’s been steady. He’s not happy with the way things are going by any stretch. But as a leader, keeping us even-keel, not letting us lose our minds and become erratic and kind of get outside of ourselves.

“He’s been good about that, reminding us that guys need us to be focused and guys need to see that we set our faces like Flint towards the goal that’s in front of us, and that’s what they will feed off of. So that’s how he’s been. That’s how he’s always been, and that’s how he continues to be.”

While Riley has publicly handled the circumstances as professionally as could be expected, wide receivers coach Keith Williams said the third-year NU coach has done the same privately with his team.

“Coach Riley’s a steady guy,” Williams said. “He’s a realistic man, he’s thoughtful, he’s genuine. So when you’re dealing with someone who’s thoughtful and genuine and wholesome, they’re looking the same way every day. He keeps things in perspective, so that’s how Coach Riley is. He’s great that way.”

- Robin Washut

It’s been nearly two full weeks since Chris Weber suffered a stinger in his neck in Nebraska’s loss to Northwestern, and the injury hasn’t healed much since.

But considering the senior inside linebacker has just two more guaranteed games remaining in his college career, there’s no way Weber is going to let it keep him off the field.

“You know, I’ve got two games left, got to fight through it,” Weber said. “I’m not going to sit out and miss these two games, so I’ll be fine.”

Weber has started nine of Nebraska’s 10 games this season and leads the Huskers in tackles (82), tackles for loss (8) and pass breakups (5). He was also recently named one of 13 finalists for the 2017 William V. Campbell Trophy, awarded for achievement on the playing field and in the classroom.

But while individual numbers and accolades are nice, Weber said he’s just as focused on finishing out this season strong for his team, particularly Riley.

“We want to play well for him, for these coaches, for these other seniors, and go out the way we want to go out,” Weber said. “Obviously we try and live in a vacuum, but you hear stuff. But it’s not going to change anything right now. You just try and block it out as much as you can.”

- Robin Washut

When he was a Big Ten linebacker at Iowa, Nebraska defensive coordinator Bob Diaco faced his fair share of talented tight ends.

In 2017, a bevy of standouts at the position have challenged the Huskers to prepare them for their latest and greatest obstacle – Penn State’s Mike Gesicki.

Among all-conference-caliber performers, Nebraska has faced Oregon’s Jacob Breeland, Rutgers’ Jerome Washington, Wisconsin’s Troy Fumagalli, and Ohio State’s Marcus Baugh. Three of those players either lead or are second on their respective teams in receptions and yards.

“We’ve played some proficient pass receiving tight ends,” Diaco said, “and some real strong point of attack tight ends that are really good. That combination of those experiences, where you enter a game, where you’ve got a guy that can do a lot of jobs at the same time, you can call upon at different moments.”

The Blackshirts will need to call upon that experience to contain Gesicki.

The senior became Penn State’s all-time tight end receptions leader with five catches at Iowa and hasn’t slowed down since. He’s quarterback Trace McSorley’s favorite target, snagging a team-high 42 passes for 419 yards and five scores on the year.

Sports Illustrated named Gesicki a midseason first-team All-American after he led the Big Ten in several tight end receiving categories in the season’s first half. He’s caught a pass in 24 straight games dating back to last year’s season opener.

“I think that he possesses a real threat in the passing game,” Diaco said, “and they do some interesting things with him in the run game. He’s a real good player.”

- Matt Reynoldson

***Senior David Knevel will start at right guard on Saturday. Riley compared it to the Zach Sterupmove form a couple of years ago."

I think David is smart, he's healthy now and he gives us a pretty impressive physical figure in there," Riley said. "It reminds me a hair of when we put Zach Sterup inside. David's deal has not been about playing ability, it's been about being healthy. Right now when he's back and it looks like he's moving pretty well, then you start looking at the best five to play.

"With all of this, it's been good about the development of the line for the future. There's been quite a few guys that have gotten quite a few repetitions in there, and I'm thinking of Matt Farniok when I say that."

***Weber and junior nose tackle Mick Stoltenberg were both named to the Academic All-District 7 first team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Thursday. Weber is an academic all-district selection for the third consecutive year, while Stoltenberg made the team for the second straight season.

***Tight end Connor Ketter (back) is out for the season, wide receiver Conor Young (ankle) is out for the regular season.

***Corner Eric Lee, holder Zack Darlington (mono) and safety Aaron Williams (neck) are all cleared and will travel to Penn State. Lee has been practicing Riley said. Running back Jaylin Bradley has also practiced with no issues all week.

***Linebacker Luke Gifford had his hip surgery on Thursday. It will be an extensive recovery. Riley said he probably won't be back full until summer conditioning.