Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno had his injured left leg and required Knee Surgery Sunday evening — but not before reviewing the Nittany Lions’ performance in a 13-3 loss to Wisconsin the day before and getting preparations for Saturday’s non-conference game against Temple started to his satisfaction.
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Wayne Sebastianelli, PSU’s director of athletic medicine, performed the 80-minute procedure at Mount Nittany Medical Center. Paterno suffered a fracture of the shin bone and tore the medial collateral ligament and posterior cruciate ligament in his knee in a sideline collision with a Badger defender early in the second half.
Sebastianelli anticipates Paterno’s left leg will be able to bear weight within about six weeks. He was fitted for a temporary brace and had several screws inserted in his leg.
“He’s expected to make a full recovery,” said Nittany Lions spokesman Jeff Nelson.
The Penn State Football operations and medical staffs have a mobility plan in place to make Paterno available for team activities on and off the field. Paterno, told to rest Monday in order to begin the process of recovery, plans to resume coaching activities today.
The school said Paterno intends to coach against the Owls, but it was unclear whether he would lead the Lions on the sidelines or from a coach’s box above Beaver Stadium.
According to his son Jay, who is a member of Paterno’s coaching staff, his father had “no thought whatsoever of not coming back this year. … It’s not even in the discussion.
“He’s a stubborn son of a gun,” Jay Paterno added.
Paterno reportedly was on the phone Monday morning with members of the coaching staff discussing the game plan for Temple.
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