WATCH: LSU football QBs during their team’s first preseason practice
LSU quarterbacks Garrett Nussmeier (13), Rickie Collins (10), AJ Swann (15) and Colin Hurley (16) work out during the first fall practice.
BATON ROUGE – Through the first 10 preseason practices, LSU football players managed to stay relatively and collectively healthy despite the tough workouts and almost unbearable August heat.
While none of the starters are dealing with any lingering injuries this fall camp, wide receiver Jelani Watkins suffered a foot injury early in Tuesday’s practice during a pylon drill when a defender landed on his foot and was forced to sit out the rest of the drill. During Wednesday morning’s media tour, Watkins was seen standing on the sideline on crutches and wearing a walking boot while LSU went through two-hour practice No. 11.
After practice, Tigers head coach Brian Kelly told reporters that the rookie suffered a “foot and ankle sprain” and that Kelly did not expect Watkins to be out for an extended period of time.
“We did an MRI, so there’s no Lisfranc,” Kelly said Wednesday. “So it’s going to be a soft tissue injury. (LSU football senior assistant coach Owen Stanley) and his team will get him back to full fitness pretty quickly.”
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LSU has avoided another long-term injury.
Watkins had been working with the third and fourth receiver groups for the first few weeks of practice, but it looked like he might be able to earn playing time early on in the return game, both kickoff and punt.
Kelly mentioned Watkins in July during LSU’s SEC Media Kickoff day as one of the young, unknown players on the team this season who could potentially make a name for himself and contribute.
LSU is well-positioned with last season’s Kyren Lacy at receiver to lead this group that doesn’t have the firepower it had last season with Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas. Chris Hilton has stood out in practice, while Liberty transfer CJ Daniels has really impressed Kelly and the coaching staff.
Behind them is Aaron Anderson, who got some playing time in 2023. Newcomers Kyle Parker and Shelton Sampson also ran behind Lacy, Hilton and Daniels.
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Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Have questions about LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at[email protected].
