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Joe Paterno Hit In Practice, Taken To Hospital

Penn State's 84-year-old football coach Joe Paterno was "blindsided" in practice on Sunday by wide receiver Devon Smith, and had to be taken to the hospital. He has "at least one hairline fracture," although it doesn't look like he'll need to have surgery. He led a meeting of his coaches via phone on Monday morning.

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"I expect to be back at practice soon. I'm doing fine; tell everyone not to worry about me," Paterno said in a prepared statement. "I like the effort I have seen from the squad during our first few practices, but we have a long way to go to get ready for the schedule we have."

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Penn State's media day, which was supposed to be on Thursday, will be rescheduled as a result of the incident.

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Paterno has had other injuries in recent years, including broken bones suffered as the result of a collision during Penn State's game against Wisconsin in 2006, and an injured hip in a 2008 practice.

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For more on Paterno and Penn State, check out Black Shoe Diaries.

Photographs by dizfunk used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.