Brian Kelly gives crucial injury update on LSU football stars Harold Perkins & Whit Weeks
LSU football head coach Brian Kelly made a crucial announcement Monday regarding the health of two defenders.
During SEC media days, Kelly confirmed Whit Weeks and Harold Perkins are expected to be full participants for fall camp. The pair suffered injuries during the 2024 season, which forced LSU to be without its star linebackers in spring practice.
Perkins tore his ACL in week four against UCLA. Weeks went down with a broken fibula and dislocated ankle in the second quarter of LSU's bowl game against Baylor on New Year's Eve.
Weeks led the team and tied for second in the conference with 125 tackles as a sophomore. Perkins showed flashes as a freshman in 2022, but the last two seasons have been a roller coaster. In defensive coordinator Blake Barker's defense, Perkins will play the STAR position this season.
Kelly's last update on the pair came in March, and it appears their progress held true to his report. At the time, Perkins and Weeks were still working with the Tigers' training staff to prepare for summer workouts and then fall camp.
"They'll have no restrictions going into camp," Kelly said. "We feel really good about it."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
11 minutes ago
- USA Today
LSU women's basketball releases complete schedule for 2025-26 season: Dates and matchups
LSU women's basketball released its schedule for the 2025-26 season. The Tigers run back a starting lineup with returning guards Flau'Jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams and expect to make another NCAA Tournament run. Head coach Kim Mulkey's staff added key transfer portal forwards, led by Notre Dame transfer Kate Koval, along with signing the nation's top recruiting class. The group now knows who they'll be facing off against and the locations. LSU begins the year with two exhibition games against Mississippi College and Langston inside the PMAC before the season opener against Houston Christian on November 4. The Tigers welcome in-state rival Southeastern Louisiana two days later. On November 17, the Tigers hit the road for the first time, heading to New Orleans to face Tulane. Eleven days later, they travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands for the Paradise Jam, where they will face Marist, followed by either Miami-Ohio or Washington State. LSU heads to Durham to face Duke on December 4 as part of the ACC/SEC challenge, then continues its road trip against New Orleans three days later. It opens SEC play against Kentucky on January 1, then travels to Vanderbilt and Georgia, who beat the Tigers to close out the regular season last year Texas is the lone opponent on the 16-game SEC schedule that LSU faces twice. The first matchup will be in the PMAC and will mark the most difficult opponent to date. It will be the first time the two teams face off in Baton Rouge since the Longhorns joined the conference. They beat LSU in both contests last year. Alabama comes to the PMAC on February 1, but the Crimson Tide will have a new look after multiple key contributors departed from the team that took LSU to overtime last year. Following that contest is the second game against Texas, this one in Austin. Mulkey comes face to face with South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley inside the PMAC when the Gamecocks come to town on February 14. It will be LSU transfer MiLaysia Fulwiley's first game against her former team. She scored eight points in South Carolina's 66-56 victory. Tennessee heads to Baton Rouge on February 26 in its second year under head coach Kim Caldwell. After closing out the season at Mississippi State, LSU starts its bid for an SEC Tournament title. The postseason begins March 4 then the NCAA Tournament commences March 18.
USA Today
41 minutes ago
- USA Today
LSU football: Predicting Harold Perkins' stats for the 2025 season
LSU football defender Harold Perkins is back for year four. The five-star recruit was a star as a true freshman in 2022, racking up 41 pressures and 10 sacks. Most of Perkins' snaps in 2022 came as an edge rusher. In 2023, LSU moved Perkins to a traditional inside linebacker role. The results were mixed. Perkins couldn't make the same impact rushing the passer and was inconsistent vs. the run. Perkins improved as the year progressed, especially in pass coverage. In 2024, LSU kept Perkins in an off-ball linebacker role but with added versatility. Still, Perkins wasn't making the same impact he did as a freshman and in week four vs. UCLA, he tore his ACL and was out for the year. Perkins elected to return to LSU for another year in Blake Baker's defense. LSU will slot Perkins at the STAR position -- the hybrid defender that's become critical to defending modern offenses. The thinking is that the STAR position allows Perkins to play in space and lets Baker deploy Perkins all over the field. Brian Kelly said Perkins now has a "complete knowledge" of the game. "He's not just a guy out there running around making plays. He's so much more intentional. He knows the game. He knows the nuances of it," Kelly said. Let's take a look at exactly what LSU fans should expect from Perkins on the field in 2025. Predicting LSU football star Harold Perkins' 2025 stats Perkins will be all over the place in 2025. He won't get the chance to rack up stats in one specific category, but these numbers reflect a strong all-around defender playing at an All-SEC level. Some may be a bit generous given Perkins' last two years and we don't know what he's going to look like, but the reports are positive. Perkins is set to have his best season since the 2022 campaign.
USA Today
41 minutes ago
- USA Today
Where Phil Steele ranks LSU football's 2025 wide receiving core ahead of 2025 season
LSU football's wide receiver play could return to a championship level in 2025. College football analyst Phil Steele ranked the Tigers' pass-catching corps atop the SEC, sharing the No. 1 ranking with Alabama. Steele dropped his unit rankings in his annual preview magazine earlier this summer. LSU lost four of its five leading receivers from the 2024 team, but the most productive of the bunch, Aaron Anderson, is back. LSU was aggressive in the transfer portal, signing Kentucky's Barion Brown and Oklahoma's Nic Anderson. Brown and Anderson both ranked among the best transfer receivers of the cycle. LSU signed Destyn Hill, too, a former blue-chip recruit out of New Orleans who dealt with injury issues at Florida State. Also returning is Chris Hilton Jr, providing LSU a vertical threat outside. With quarterback Garrett Nussmeier throwing the ball, LSU's passing attack is shaping up to be explosive. LSU's offense was efficient in 2024, but the Tigers failed to create explosive plays at will like they did in 2023. The 2025 offense doesn't have to match the record numbers of 2023, but LSU wide receivers project to put up big numbers. When is LSU football's first game of 2025? LSU football kicks off the 2025 season vs. Clemson on Saturday, August 30 at 6:30 PM CT. LSU football schedule
