LSU football kicks off vs. Mississippi State in a little over an hour. In preparation, earlier this week, coach Brian Kelly addressed the media and released his final injury report ahead of Saturday, including updates on Mason Taylor and Omar Speights.
LSU football injury report vs. Mississippi State
Sophomore TE Mason Taylor (Questionable)
Last week, sophomore tight end Mason Taylor left the Grambling State game early with what appeared to be an ankle injury. Later on, coach Brian Kelly revealed that it was an ankle sprain, which was a sigh of relief for many fans.
This week, he’s already begun working his way back to practice and appears to be close to game-ready.
“Mason has made progress,” coach Brian Kelly said about the sophomore tight end. “He was out there today – on the ground running. I think we had him at questionable; I would say he’s a game-time decision. So, where is that? I think he’s still questionable. We’re gonna have to see him move around and see what he looks like in pregame.”
If Mason Taylor does end up being out for the game, who steps up in his place? According to Kelly, it will be entirely up to the freshmen, saying, “Well, we’re gonna play all freshmen at that position right now.”
The Tigers have a group of four young tight ends (Mac Markway, Ka’Morreun Pimpton, Jackson McGohan and Connor Gilbreath) who will get plenty of game experience this weekend. This is an excellent opportunity and could lead to many more opportunities for all of them in the near future.
“We’re gonna play them all. So, they’re all gonna get an opportunity in some fashion. Now, they all can’t do the same things because we’re trying to feature them in different looks. But, they’ll all get a chance to play, and hopefully, Mason is able to give us something, too.”
Senior LB Omar Speights (Doubtful)
The lucky part about this week’s injury report is that only two players are listed. The unlucky portion is the fact that both injuries fell on impact players.
Senior linebacker Omar Speights went down with an injury last week vs. Grambling State and spent the rest of the day on the sideline in street clothes. Unfortunately, in contrast to tight end Mason Taylor, Speights appears to be a bit further away from seeing the field.
“Omar is not as far ahead. We’re gonna bring him; we’re gonna dress him out and see what he looks like, but I’m less optimistic about him,” coach Brian Kelly said about the senior linebacker. “But we’ll see what happens; he’s still got 48 hours, and if he can make the same kind of progress that Mason did, we’ve got a chance. But I would say he’s probably more in the doubtful range.”
“We’ll activate West Weeks, Whit Weeks, Greg Penn, Christian Braithwaite. Those will be the guys that will work the inside. And then Harold (Perkins Jr) will obviously be the guy that we move around.”
With Mason Taylor and Omar Speights possibly being sidelined this weekend, it’ll be curious to watch the tight end and linebacker positions.
LSU football vs. Mississippi State begins around 11:00 a.m. CST in Starkville, MS. The game will be available to watch live on ESPN.
Thank you for reading LSU Glory. For more LSU Glory content, covering all things LSU athletics, follow us on Twitter and Facebook. For feedback, questions, concerns, or to apply for a writing position, please email us at lsuglory.fr@gmail.com or direct message us on our Twitter account. It is thanks to your support that we can continue to grow into one of the fastest-growing and most influential LSU media outlets there is.
