The latest news for the lawsuit against Penn State and head coach James Franklin.

Head Coach James Franklin gave a brief statement at the beginning of his press conference Tuesday about the ongoing lawsuit by the team’s former orthopedic doctor:

“We’ll continue to vigorously defend our program and all its participants in this matter. As always, the health and well being of our student-athletes is of the utmost importance to us.”

Earlier today, former linebacker, Jason Cabinda defending his head coach in a tweet:

Lemme go ahead and save y’all the time of speculating…. this is complete and total BS straight up https://t.co/pzhr6tWFgX

— Jason Cabinda (@jasoncabinda) August 27, 2019

And now a former 2013 Vandy quarterback, Austyn Carta Samuels also speaks out defending his old coach:

I was James Franklin’s QB in 2013 & tore my ACL in Game 7. I wanted to play on it. 3 wks later I was cleared by the doctors to play at Florida…

Franklin thought I was rushing it & chose to protect me & told me I’d start vs Kentucky the next week.

Be better. pic.twitter.com/2fqPP7rEhX

— Austyn Carta Samuels (@AUSTYNCS_6) August 27, 2019

Update: former offensive linemen under both HC Bill O’Brien and James Franklin shows his support:

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On ESPN’s Outside the Lines, Michael McCann, a Sports Illustrated legal analyst and UNH law professor expects Penn State to agree to some sort of settlement with Dr. Lynch, “I would imagine this is a case that’s really begging for a settlement because of the fact that any lawsuit where it’s hinged upon emails and other messages that might reflect poorly on high-profile people. There’s incentive for all involved to…strike a deal.” He also went on to say, Penn State could ask Dr. Lynch if it were so bad why didn’t he resign and come out sooner.

McCann reiterated my point from yesterday, saying “He [Dr. Lynch] didn’t identify which specific incidents occurred in the complaint itself. Now, part of that reflects the fact that there are requirements in terms of privacy for educational records and health records that probably limited what he could share in the complaint. But we don’t yet know what exactly what James Franklin is accused of doing besides the generic argument that he somehow interfered.”

He also says that the dollar amount ($50,000) signified in the lawsuit is just for “pleading purposes” and the actual amount in damages would be “substantially higher”.

We will continue to update you as we learn more.