By Travis Johnson — tjohnson@centredaily.com
UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State’s deepest position group has grown thin.
At his weekly press conference Tuesday, Penn State football coach Bill O’Brien confirmed fifth-year senior tight end Matt Lehman will miss the rest of the season after suffering a left knee injury against Syracuse. Sophomore Kyle Carter didn’t leave MetLife Stadium on Saturday unscathed, either, and is day-to-day with a left arm injury.
The two tight ends joined fellow tight end Brent Wilkerson, who is out indefinitely after undergoing back surgery, on the injured list.
And although Carter and Lehman were key contributors last season and combined to catch 60 passes for 749 yards and five touchdowns, O’Brien said he doesn’t expect their absences to limit the offense.
“You have to kind of relate it to a roster in a pro football team,” O’Brien said. “So you have 53 guys on the roster. So you bring two tight ends to the game or three tight ends to the game. If one or two of those guys goes down, what are you going to do? Just play with 10 guys or nine guys? No. You have to have a contingency play. We always do.”