Clifford latest and more: 3 takeaways from Penn State's Wednesday presser

Penn State Nittany Lions football coach James Franklin provided the latest update on Penn State's quarterback situation on Wednesday night, while touching on a few other topics during his post-practice media availability.

Let's dive right in.

Sean Clifford, who left Penn State's most recent game against Iowa with an injury, was out practicing Wednesday.

Franklin said it was not the first time he'd practiced since his injury, and that he is sharing reps with Ta'Quan Roberson and Christian Veilleux — the only other scholarship QBs on Penn State's roster.

Franklin said Penn State wants to "invest [its] time where we think we're going to have the greatest return," and that it's hard to say which quarterback will deliver that return at this point.

"Fluid is a good word to describe kind of where we're at right now, and just kind of take it day by day," he said. "We want to try to make sure, like we always do, that the guys that are going to play the most reps in the game, the starters, are getting the majority of the reps, and that's hard to say right now.

"I think we would all agree that we'd like Sean back so we'll adjust and do what we have to do."

Franklin said that, should Roberson or Veilleux get the nod, the offense would change — not from a stylistic perspective, but in a way that accentuates the strengths of the quarterback playing.

"You want to say 'okay, you know, Ta'Quan, what what do you feel really good about? What are the 15 normal downs plays, what are the five third down plays, what are the five redzone plays that you feel best about, and rep those as much as you possibly can,'" Franklin said. "Then same thing with Christian Veilleux, but we'll see how that goes. That will that will be a conversation that we'll need to have."

Franklin was asked about his players potentially looking ahead and thinking about what they might have to do in order to achieve certain goals by the end of the season.

As he always does when that gets brought up, Franklin responded that he encourages his players and his staff to remove themselves from the outside discussion and attack the season in one-week chunks.

He did, however, note that he thought the College Football Playoff has magnified the importance of that philosophy.

"It's depending on what type of school you're at, and where you're at, and the College Football Playoff has dramatically changed, I think, how you operate and how people view things, and I think it's made it more challenging, so I think this is the right approach for us," he said.

Penn State quarterback commit Drew Allar has generated quite a bit of buzz this week as his stock continues to soar across the country.

While he couldn't name the player specifically due to NCAA rules, Franklin was asked about identifying Allar early in the process before he exploded onto the scene and saw his stock rise throughout the recruiting landscape.

"It's obviously a really good evaluation process and being thorough, but for me to say that's the entirety of it would not be correct," Franklin said. "I think it's his development. I think he's done a tremendous job from a development -- I think his quarterback coach has done a really good job as well. Obviously, going to his high school the other day, I think he's playing in an offense that also allows him to maximize his ability and show his talents."

There is, Franklin admitted, some luck associated with it as well, pointing toward a famous example with the New England Patriots.

"Tom Brady in the sixth round, and for anybody to say that was the plan, that they knew it was going to work out, would not be accurate," Franklin said. "That was something that worked out really well. We were able to get on this young man, obviously we can't get into the specifics, but he's just flourishing."

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