Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi probably didn’t need too much of a boost to get excited Tuesday, the Panthers’ first day of spring practice. Still, when he arrived at the team’s South Side facility, he got one, anyway, from running back James Conner.

“He comes in and slaps me on the back as he came through the door this morning,” Narduzzi said. “Fired up that he’s back and he’s got a helmet on.”

Conner was out on the practice field with his Pitt teammates Tuesday, less than 24 hours removed from his eighth chemotherapy treatment as he fights Hodgkin lymphoma.

He won’t be able to practice fully this spring — Narduzzi said the medical port implanted in his chest means any contact is out of bounds — but Conner’s presence on the field, going through warm-ups and walk-throughs with the other running backs, was enough to get his teammates excited.

“You can’t even put it into words,” quarterback Nate Peterman said. “He was in chemo [Monday] — I saw a video of that — and I was not expecting him to be out there in a helmet, and I’m handing the ball off to him. He’s extremely inspirational.”

Conner, who was not made available for interviews, has said multiple times that he hopes to play in Pitt’s 2016 opener Sept. 3 against Villanova. He has four remaining rounds of his original 12 prescribed chemotherapy treatments, which he undergoes at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center every two weeks.

“I know he’s going to make a great recovery,” Peterman said. “We believe and we’re praying.”

Conner’s presence on the field added a jolt of excitement to what was otherwise a routine first spring practice, but that’s just the way Narduzzi would like it. A year ago, he was busy teaching systems and instilling his culture.

After practice, Narduzzi praised the defense’s recall from the 2015 season and said the offense looked “crisp” in its first practice under new coordinator Matt Canada.

“There’s more knowledge, on both sides of the ball,” Narduzzi said. “Not only football-wise, but the kids understand what the coaches’ expectations are. I think that’s important.”

For players such as Peterman, this spring also gives him a chance to get more comfortable as the starting quarterback. He didn’t join the team until last summer as a transfer from Tennessee and spent all of fall camp splitting first-team snaps with Chad Voytik until he eventually became the starter three games into the season.

This year, Peterman will have an entire spring, summer and fall camp to prepare for his role as the starting quarterback in 2016.

“I think it will help a lot, I’m pretty excited about that,” Peterman said. “This my first year to finally do that and get all the first-team reps. I’m very thankful for that. Now I’ve got to go out there and compete every day and be the best I can be for this team.”

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NOTES —- Pitt released a list of six players who will miss spring workouts with injuries: linebacker Bam Bradley, defensive end Rori Blair, wide receiver Zach Challingsworth, fullback Colton Lively, linebacker Anthony McKee and offensive lineman Alex Officer. … Voytik, who announced his decision to pursue a graduate transfer in January, confirmed that he has narrowed his list of schools to Memphis, Indiana and Eastern Kentucky. He will visit all three in the next few weeks before making his final decision.

Sam Werner: swerner@post-gazette.com and Twitter @SWernerPG.

First Published: March 15, 2016, 3:18 p.m.
Updated: March 16, 2016, 3:28 a.m.