At his weekly press conference Monday, James Franklin announced that true freshman tight end Luke Reynolds has been given the “green light” by the Penn State Football coaching staff to burn his redshirt this season.

Reynolds has played in both games for Penn State this year after enrolling in January but has yet to catch a pass this season for the Nittany Lions.

Reynolds was a five-star recruit in the 2024 class and was the number one ranked tight end in the country according to 247Sports rankings.

Luke Reynolds officially gets the green light to burn his redshirt after Andrew Rappleyea’s injury, per James Franklin

— Penn State FB Thoughts (@PSU_FB_Thoughts) September 16, 2024

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Reynolds was expected to enter “green light” territory after an injury to fellow tight end redshirt freshman Andrew Rappleyea, who was seen on crutches during Penn State’s Week 2 game against Bowling Green.

Reynolds got the start in place of the injured Rappleyea in week two and is expected to see an expanded role during Rappleyea’s recovery.

Penn State Football, Luke Reynolds — Penn State linebacker Tony Rojas (14) tackles tight end Luke Reynolds during the Blue-White game at Beaver Stadium on Saturday, April 13, 2024, in State College. The White team defeated the Blue team, 27-0.

Junior tight end Khalil Dinkins is also returning to the field after an injury that forced him to miss most of fall camp and Penn State’s week one game against West Virginia. Both Dinkins and Reynolds will be playing behind senior Tyler Warren as Penn State’s TE2/TE3 moving forward.

Reynolds is the third Nittany Lion freshmen to obtain green light status, joining offensive lineman Cooper Cousins and safety Dejuan Lane.