PSU defensive linemen Adisa Isaac, PJ Mustiper are bouncing back this season. Here’s their plan
Penn State is known for its gritty defensive line play and ability to reach the quarterback on passing plays.
But with the grittiness comes injuries. Two key factors to Penn State’s defensive line — defensive end Adisa Isaac and defensive lineman PJ Mustipher — both fell to season-ending injuries in 2021. Isaac, a redshirt junior, injured his Achilles prior to Penn State’s opener and Mustipher suffered a leg injury in the first drive of the team’s 23-20 loss to Iowa on Oct. 9 last year.
Isaac, a 6-4, 248-pound edge rusher, played in 14 career games for the Nittany Lions — totaling 27 tackles (nine solo), 4.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and a forced fumble. Mustipher played in 36 games, making 107 tackles (49 solo), 10 for loss with three sacks, a fumble recovery and two forced fumbles. Defensive line coach John Scott Jr. is excited to see what the duo can do, and looks to continue pushing them to be prepared to get back onto the field.
“I just think any time you come back from a major injury one of the most important things that I can do as a coach is to be there as an encourager,” Scott Jr. said during Penn State Media Day on Aug. 6. “Some days, coming back from injuries you can have a rough day or whatnot, but we just have to be there and encourage them and be their support.”
Fighting back through injury
Recovery was tough to navigate for Isaac. The redshirt junior’s Achilles tendon was torn and rehab usually takes about a year. While he continued to face new challenges, he wanted to keep an optimistic attitude throughout the whole season, as he watched his team compete without him.
“It was a new journey for me,” Isaac said. “I’ve never been hurt this severe in my life, so it was just something new that I had to take on. Had to keep a positive mindset from the start to the finish, and that’s what I’m still doing. I tried not to switch anything up because I feel like it’s working. I’m improving every day.”
Mustipher watched Isaac continue to fight through his recovery. When he too suffered his injury, he looked toward Isaac for support and inspiration.
“Adisa’s done a phenomenal job coming back,” Mustipher said. “I definitely use him as bulletin board material for myself. He’s done a phenomenal job so far in camp. He’s going to have a big season for us. I use that in my own process to never stop because I understand that the process can be hard, but if guys like Adisa and guys who have battled back from other injuries can do it, then I can definitely do it. Hats off to Adisa, I’m really proud of him.”
The feeling is mutual for his longtime teammate and recovery buddy.
“It was great pushing each other,” Isaac said. “We both went through a similar situation, so just having someone else next to you doing the same thing helps way more than when you take it on yourself. It was good to ask for help. When you have your brother there going through the similar situation, it’s great.”
How they’ve taken on their training headfirst
Mustipher has continued to rev up his training during his return. Taking on double teams and running sprints are two different types of stressors on his surgically-repaired knee. There are times where he feels great and other times where he’s fighting through soreness. Ultimately, he doesn’t feel any added pressure to continue to play at the level that he had pre-injury.
“I just want to go out there and make sure I’m healthy enough to do my job as part of this defensive line,” Mustipher said. “If I can do that and help what we have going on, then I’m right where I want to be. It’s a process. The process isn’t over for me recovering from this injury. I just want to get better with these guys each and every day.”
Recovering isn’t just returning from a physical injury, either. It has a great deal to do with mentally preparing oneself for the obstacles ahead, and that’s the aspect of Isaac’s recovery that he’s taking most seriously. His teammates may get close to his Achilles in practice, but he tries to tune out the external issues that may come from it.
“I try not to think about it at all because if it’s in my head I won’t play fast, I won’t play physical,” Isaac said. “So I try not to worry about it. I just trust my rehab, trust my training that I did for the whole year I was out.”
The excitement of their return
Penn State head coach James Franklin is hopeful to see what Isaac can bring to the table. The expectation heading into last season was that Isaac could become the next Penn State edge rusher to make a name for himself and become an NFL player.
Instead, he watched teammates Arnold Ebiketie and Jesse Luketa get picked up by the Falcons and Cardinals respectively in 2022. Former teammates like Odafe Oweh (Baltimore Ravens), Shaka Toney (Washington Commanders) and Yetur Gross-Matos (Carolina Panthers), paved the way for him. Isaac has a chance to blaze his own path with the Nittany Lions.
“Having him back is significant,” Franklin said. “Obviously, having Adisa Isaac back, I think everybody that covers Penn State football closely, or is a fan or a member of our program, was really excited about what Adisa was going to be able to do last year after gaining experience the year before.”
Franklin is also eager to see what Mustipher and other players for their fourth, fifth and even sixth seasons can bring to the table. His expectations for the fifth-year defensive tackle is that he brings the energy, leadership, consistency and excitement to the program that he brought last season.
“Having PJ back. Having Sean (Clifford) back. Having Tig (Ji’Ayir Brown) back, having these guys back, as well as the guys that we lost for whatever reason,” he said. “It gives us a really good balance of maturity and experience and young talent that hopefully we can learn from each other and play off of each other to start out on the road with a really challenging game on the road.”
By the time Penn State Media Day came, the pair only had two days in pads. Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz soaked in the opportunity to watch Mustipher return from injury — a player that he hasn’t been able to watch much firsthand since joining the program in the spring.
Now Diaz gets to see what the team can accomplish with the 6-foot-4 defensive tackle on the field and commanding the rest of the line.
“You feel PJ’s presence by who he is as a person,” Diaz said. “He’s another guy like Ji’Ayir (Brown), where every person on the football team’s got a great respect for PJ. He’s like a coach on the field. Now — when the ball snaps, you see where he’s had some success as one of the top defensive tackles in the Big Ten conference. He’s so strong at the point of attack, he knows how to hold blocks and hold points, but finish a play in the backfield too.”
