Differences and sacrifices are the new normal for cornerback Keaton Ellis and other returning Penn State football players

Being from State College, Keaton Ellis didn’t have very far to go to get to Penn State for Monday’s phased return to campus by much of the football team after a three-month absence due to the coronavirus pandemic.

His teammates were the same. The football facilities, including the Lasch Building and Holuba Hall, were the same. But quite a bit was different.

“There's going to be a lot of different things, as far as working out and practicing and going through all the different protocols that they put in place,” Ellis, a sophomore cornerback, said Wednesday in a Zoom conference call with reporters.

“One of the biggest sacrifices is probably going to be outside of Lasch, outside of football, making sure everybody's being accountable for each other and staying inside the team and not going out and doing different things that could risk and jeopardize people. So we're going to have to make some sacrifices. But I think as a team, we're all prepared to do that and just move forward.”

As outlined by Penn State’s athletic department, 75 players returned to campus Monday under in-depth protocols that included testing, the wearing of masks, social distancing, daily health screening, regular sanitation and what it called “carefully guided access to buildings.”

Players who are medically cleared will be allowed to take part in voluntary workouts beginning June 15.

Ellis called his COVID-19 test “a really unique experience” that “took 15 seconds tops.” He said the football staff was very strict with access to facilities, which means most activities will be in Holuba Hall, an indoor practice facility.

“Everything is not going to be normal when you go back, you have to understand that,” Ellis said. “I understand that. All the team understands that. We’re ready as players to make some sacrifices because that’s what it’s going to take to move forward.

“They have a good plan put in place. And I believe we can get through this stuff successfully. I’m not worried. I’m excited, and everybody’s excited because we want to play football. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about, playing the sport we love. We’re going to have to go through some different things in order to do that.”

As far as activities this week, Ellis said he is lifting three days and running through Holuba.

“We start our normal workouts like we would before, but with some different nuances as far as a spaced-out locker room, working out in the open outside, different things like that,” he said. “Each week, we’re going to start getting closer to a ‘normal’ normal schedule that we usually would have because we’re getting right back into the swing of things as far as workouts and meetings and all that.”

Meetings will continue to be conducted over Zoom, reflecting the concern of head coach James Franklin about having in-person meetings in closed rooms. Or as Ellis observed, “With the times, you can’t have 150 people in a room, you just can’t.”

The 5-foot-11, 183-pound Ellis, whose father, Bruce, was a Penn State receiver from 1973 to 1976, appeared in all 13 games for the Nittany Lions as a true freshman last season, including a start in the regular-season finale against Rutgers. He was opportunistic around the football, forcing three fumbles and recovering one.

With John Reid (St. Joseph’s Prep) having graduated, the competition for his starting cornerback spot will be a fierce one. Ellis is one of four cornerbacks from the 2019 freshman class who will compete for the job opposite senior Tariq Castro-Fields.

“It’s sometimes hard because that’s the guy you’re trying to steal a job from, and everybody knows it,” Ellis said of his fellow sophomore corners. “We don’t hide that. Coach [cornerbacks coach Terry Smith] is very open. He says what’s what, so we all completely understand that. I think it makes us all work harder.”

At the same time, with the new normal quite a bit different from the old, Ellis is delighted to see his teammates again.

“Getting back with my teammates is probably the biggest thing,” he said, “and building that camaraderie for the season and working together and sacrificing together and sweating together and being together. That’s what it comes down to, the team camaraderie. We didn’t have that in the spring. I’m just excited to get back with my teammates and start grinding again.”