UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — John Reid knew right away.
Not the details, perhaps, but he was aware immediately that he had done serious damage to his left knee while defending a pass during one of Penn State’s spring workouts a year ago.
“I cut,” Reid said. “Plant[ed]. Good cut, too. I told everybody that if I would have gotten out of the cut, I was picking the ball off.
“As soon as I made the second step, I just felt my knee give out. You kind of just knew.”
Instead of an interception, Reid, a cornerback, came out of that sequence with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, ending his 2017 season months before it was to begin.