LSU’s injury luck has been brutal for most of the season, but the Tigers are finally getting some relief at the right time.
With Week 9 here, LSU heads into a bye week before what looks like the hardest stretch on the schedule. The final four games are a gauntlet: home dates with Alabama and Texas, then trips to Knoxville to face the Volunteers and Fayetteville to meet the Razorbacks.
That closing run matters. The source describes those upcoming matchups as crucial wins for LSU and says they give Lane Kiffin and his new and improved program a chance to make a playoff run. That’s the kind of stretch where every healthy body counts.
One of the biggest boosts came last week when tight end Trey’Dez Green finally came off the injury report for the first time since Week 4 before LSU’s game against Auburn. Green had been sidelined since injuring his knee in LSU’s Week 4 trip to Ole Miss, missing the rest of September and the first three games of October.
He made an impact in the Auburn game, posting 50 receiving yards on five catches and scoring his second touchdown of the season against the orange and blue Tigers. He did get looks from quarterback Sam Leavitt, though Kiffin said Green looked good and still wasn’t fully back to 100%.
Even so, Green came out of the game healthy. Kiffin said Auburn was trying hip-drop tackles on him, and the tight end still managed to finish without another injury.
A hip-drop tackle is when a defender grabs a ball carrier from the side or behind, twists them down and forces them onto their lower legs or ankles. The NFL banned the move in 2024 after data showed a player’s injury rate is 20-25 times higher than on a standard tackle.
Green’s status matters even more now, because the final stretch of the season will put him under a bigger spotlight. LSU needs him on the field and healthy if it wants production from one of its most important offensive pieces.
There’s also hope that co-team captain Whit Weeks could be back in the mix soon. Kiffin said Weeks’ target return date is the Alabama game, though the bye week will ultimately decide whether he’s ready.
Weeks, who shares LSU’s famous No. 7 with Green, is one of the defense’s key playmakers at linebacker. He has 23 tackles in 2026, but fractured his right ankle in the Week 4 matchup against Texas A&M. Last season, another ankle injury limited him to eight games, though he still finished with 28 tackles.
For Weeks, this is the last chapter of his LSU career, and what he does down the stretch will shape his final impression with the program.
The team still has another week before an official injury report is due, but the players already ruled out for the season are safety Dashawn Spears, wide receiver Phillip Wright III and linebacker Charles Ross II.
Even with those losses, LSU appears to be turning a corner. With Green trending back and Weeks possibly close behind, the Tigers may be getting the kind of late-season help that can swing both sides of the ball.
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At 6-2, the Tigers have positioned themselves in the playoff conversation, but the next run of games will say plenty about whether that buzz is real. Alabama, Texas and Tennessee are all still ahead, and the path to the College Football Playoff is likely to be decided in that kind of company. For LSU, the question is no longer whether it has talent or balance, but whether it can keep that edge when the schedule turns against ranked opponents. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Fans Hate What Happened To This Alabama Showdown
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There is also a longer-term sting for LSU fans beyond the start time. This will be the final annual meeting before the SECs revised scheduling rotation breaks up the rivalry, and the two teams will not meet again in Baton Rouge until at least 2030. For a fan base that prefers the atmosphere of a night game against Alabama, the afternoon slot only adds to the frustration around a matchup that already carries extra weight. [Read more 🡒]