After the most emotionally draining weekend of the season, the Penn State football players chose not to sulk through their early week preparation for this Saturday's game against Minnesota.

They simply picked up the pieces that had shattered apart in their 16-3 loss to Wisconsin and moved forward -- as optimistically as the current situation could possibly allow.

The Nittany Lions -- suddenly beset on all sides by adversity -- refused to divert from their normal game-week preparation and had a relatively normal practice on Monday.

This, despite injuries to their top two quarterbacks and a serious medical emergency within the family of their head coach. And this, despite that their head coach Joe Paterno suggested the team take a day off from practice on Monday.

"I was not going to practice [Monday]," Paterno said, "but after talking to the staff and a couple of kids on the team they thought we would like to get into a normal game week routine."

There were two factors at work here, causing Paterno to be hesitant to get back on the practice field. One reason was the concern Paterno had for his team's health and physical durability after the pounding it took at the hands of the Badgers.

The other was the result of a personal issue involving the coach. Paterno's son-in-law, Chris Hort, is still in intensive care at Altoona General Hospital due to injuries he sustained Saturday in a bicycle accident.

"I didn't want to practice [Monday] because I didn't think I was ready for practice," Paterno said. "[The players] said they would be OK and, literally, the [assistant] coaches took it over. I was there on the field, but we didn't go quite as hard as we did the week before on Monday."

Some players mentioned yesterday that Paterno has been more reserved in his reaction to this loss. Given the circumstances facing the team he tried to put the loss in a more subdued context when he addressed the team at the beginning of the week.

"Coach [Paterno], I think, said it well," senior safety Andrew Guman said. "He put football in perspective there are a lot of things that we can be thankful for. You always have to put those things first. We just have to keep on fighting and be persistent."

A will to fight and move forward during trying times seemed to be a common theme running through a somewhat somber day in what will surely be a difficult week for the Penn State football team.

Other than the heavy-hearted concerns with which the team has to cope, there's the issue of this week's game with Minnesota, which should not be taken lightly by any means. The Golden Gophers are ranked 18th in the country and are one of the Big Ten's most physical teams.

Some of the players have also expressed a sense of trepidation leading into this week, as well as a desire support their coach in a troubled time. But, it appears, the best they can do is to simply play better on the field.

"[If] we do everything to our best ability so there's less things for him that he might have to yell about or complain about to us, I think that would help him a lot," junior tight end Isaac Smolko said.

But after getting run ragged physically and emotionally, the Lions just need, more than anything, something positive to ease the pain and help them persevere.