Alex Manske injury update: Penn State passer is back on campus following offseason procedure

STATE COLLEGE — Penn State quarterback Alex Manske is back with his teammates here following an undisclosed offseason procedure that caused him to be off the field during his first spring in State College. The 6-foot-3, 217-pound redshirt freshman who transferred into the program after starting his career at Iowa State was initially recovering at home in Algona, Iowa. But he is now in the Lasch Building again as he continues to work his way back to practicing.

“Alex Manske is back on campus, which is huge,” new Lions coach Matt Campbell said on Tuesday. “I think a monumental win for us. And, I think he’s certainly trending towards where we would want him to be by the time we get to the summer so he can progress his way back.”

When Manske followed Campbell and co., to town earlier this year, he appeared to be locked into the No. 2 quarterback role behind senior starter Rocco Becht. However, this setback has prompted a pause regarding those plans for the time being. It has also impacted Penn State’s passers’ room this spring.

With Manske out and Becht slowly working his way back from offseason non-throwing shoulder labrum surgery, Division III transfer Connor Barry is taking the majority of the first-team reps. Becht will be involved in at least some of those on Saturday during the Penn State Blue-White spring practice finale. But, Barry will still likely get the bulk of them. Freshmen Kase Evans and Peyton Falzone, plus walk-on Jack Lambert, round out the current quarterbacks room for first-year position coach Jake Waters.

More: What can Penn State fans expect to see at the Blue-White practice? Here’s what Matt Campbell said on Tuesday

“If you said, who’s the guy that’s got the bulk of first team reps or second team reps, and really made great strides? It’s been Connor,” Campbell said. “And [he’s] kind of a guy that kind of came out of nowhere, a little bit, for us.

“I think Connor’s done a great job. So, I think that, in general, it’ll pay big dividends for Connor to get those reps to kind of know what he can do, and feel like by the time we get to fall camp, we should be a lot better quarterback room than maybe we were throughout the spring.”

The Blue-White practice is Saturday. It starts at 1 p.m. ET. Beaver Stadium will host it. There are currently no plans to televise it.