Most of all, Paterno doesn't want to see any more dropped balls. Whether that means more accuracy from Thompson or less butterfingers for Fields and Jones seems open for debate, at least to the players. It's not just the wide receivers, it's myself as well as anybody. We can't put the blame on them. We just have to work harder.
Fields bristles at the suggestion.
Fields and Jones insist they're ready to perform those duties. When the Lions finally aired it out last year in a 27-0 victory over Illinois, Fields and Jones combined for nine catches and 178 yards. Afterward, both said it was just the beginning, the chance they'd been waiting for. Tune in next week for more of the same. Well, in the five games that followed, with both wideouts starting every game but one, Jones and Fields were each shut out twice, combined for 37 yards in two games, and caught just 14 combined yards in PSU's Outback Bowl win.