Coach Brian Kelly gives significant update on the LSU football cornerback room

On Saturday vs. Army, LSU football cornerback Zy Alexander went down with a lower-body injury. This wasn’t even close to being the first loss in the Tiger secondary and just added to a growing list of concerns. Today, coach Brian Kelly gave an update on the group heading into the BYE week, including an injury and multiple inactive.

Several pieces of the LSU football cornerback room could miss time down the line

Coach Brian Kelly and the Tigers simply can’t catch a break at defensive back. In 2023, the team has faced several losses in the position group, including significant contributors such as safety Greg Brooks Jr and cornerbacks Duce Chestnut, Denver Harris, JK Johnson and now Zy Alexander.

While we’ve known Brooks Jr and JK Johnson to be out for the year for some time now, the other three present much larger question marks.

Over the weekend, LSU football cornerback Zy Alexander went down with a lower-body injury and did not return to action Saturday. Today, coach Brian Kelly gave a short update on him heading into the BYE week, saying, “Yeah, he’s gonna miss some time. He’s got a lower-body injury, so he’ll miss some time.”

While the BYE week coming up certainly helps his chances of returning to action soon, it’s hard to say for sure right now.

With cornerbacks Duce Chestnut and Denver Harris, their situations are even more unknown.

While Duce Chestnut earned the start early in the year vs. Florida State, he’s only seen game action in one other game vs. Arkansas. This is notable, considering the fact that he was viewed as a sure-fire starter heading into 2023.

Denver Harris is another major question mark. After receiving his first game action vs. Grambling State, he saw pretty significant playing time, getting on the field each game from week two to week five.

“I know a lot of people have questions about their status,” coach Brian Kelly said about the two impact defensive backs. “All I can tell you is they’re on scholarship, they’re enrolled in school, but right now they’re not participating. They’re still in the program, they’re still in good standing, but they’re not able to play right now. So, let’s leave it at that, let’s be patient and we’ll see what happens down the road.”

We could see some young faces in the secondary vs. Alabama

With so many players and their availability up in the air, someone will need to step up. While it could be excellent for the future, the LSU football cornerback room could face some challenges with all the new faces they’ll be putting out over the coming weeks.

Among those new faces could be several freshmen, including Javien Toviano, Jeremiah Hughes and Ashton Stamps. While all three have immense potential, Kelly likely didn’t anticipate needing to play them all so soon.

However, heading into the BYE week, they could be the answer.

“I would say that they (Javien Toviano and Jeremiah Hughes) are in the mix,” coach Kelly said about the current LSU football cornerback room. “Ashton Stamps should be ready to go. Laterrance Welch, all those guys will be certainly part of our rotation. And we feel like all of them are capable of playing championship football. So, it’s our job to get them ready, and they’re excited, we’re excited about working with them and we expect them to play well for us.”

Whoever ends up getting the start two weeks from now better be ready. LSU football is set to face off against Nick Saban and Alabama for their week 10 matchup, and the Tigers will need to bring their A-game for it.

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