By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU starting tight end Trey’Dez Green and starting star Dashawn Spears remained on crutches after suffering injuries and leaving the game Saturday night in the 32-24 loss at Ole Miss, LSU coach Lane Kiffin said via a teleconference on Sunday afternoon.
“They’re both on crutches today,” Kiffin said. “So, not ideal, that’s for sure.”
Kiffin did not list either player’s status for Saturday’s game when the No. 10 Tigers (2-1, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) host No. 23 Texas A&M (2-1, 0-1 SEC) at 6:30 p.m. in Tiger Stadium on ABC.
Green caught four passes for 60 yards before leaving the game early in the fourth quarter with what appeared to be a knee injury. There have been reports that Green suffered no ligament damage, but Kiffin did not confirm that.
“We don’t know that for sure yet or comment on that this early in the week,” Kiffin said. “The loss was one thing. Probably the injuries were more impactful (as far as the SEC race) than the loss moving forward. Watching maybe two of our most dynamic, irreplaceable players for what they do in Spears and Trey’Dez. Both walking around on crutches today wasn’t a great feeling.”
Kiffin is expected to release an availability report to the SEC office on Wednesday night regarding his players’ injury status for the Texas A&M game with follow-ups to that on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Green, a junior pre-season All-American, has been the Tigers’ top receiver. He leads the team with 222 receiving yards on 14 catches for 15.9 yards a reception.
Spears, who plays a combination linebacker and safety spot called the star position in LSU’s defense, exited early in the second quarter with what also appeared to be a knee injury. Spears, a junior from Denham Springs High, has seven tackles on the season with five solo stops, including a sack and a quarterback hurry.
Kiffin was asked about the players behind Green, should he be unable to play. Those are junior transfers Zach Grace and Malachi Thomas, neither of whom had a catch in relief of Green at Ole Miss.
“You kind of saw what it looks like there,” Kiffin said. “It’s different obviously. We even used Roman Mothershed (a wide receiver) a little bit for more running ability, more pass-catching, stretch-the-field ability. So, it is what it is. And there’s a reason why we had Dae’Quan (Wright) on our roster – not on our roster, but practicing and ready to play, knowing that this potentially could be an issue.”
Wright, who was a top tight end for Kiffin last season at Ole Miss, transferred to and enrolled at LSU and practiced multiple times for the Tigers last month after being cut from the Cleveland Browns roster in August after a brief stay in training camp. Kiffin did not put Wright on the roster, though, because of pressure from SEC commissioner Greg Sankey on LSU and all member schools not to roster former NFL roster members. A judge did rule in relation to eligibility suits against the NCAA involving Wright and hundreds of other players that Wright could play. But Kiffin locked his roster from the addition of Wright or defensive tackle Zxavian Harris, who also was about to join the LSU roster last month after being cut by the Saints.
Green at 6-foot-7 and 242 pounds has been a much taller target than Grace and Thomas for LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt and has shown the ability to break tackles.
Sophomore CJ Jimcoily replaced Spears at star and made two tackles with a quarterback hurry.
“CJ’s a good, young player with a lot of ability,” Kiffin said. “Spears is just really unique. He’s one of those guys who you just don’t find – his length, his coverage ability. He can play run, but cover in man-to-man. He lets us play a lot of unique defenses. He really was an integral part of how well we played on defense.”
Asked if he had other plans for the star position should Spears not return this week, Kiffin said, “We’ll talk about that in the next few days here and figure it out.”
Kiffin said he and defensive coordinator Blake Baker would look at redshirt freshman No. 2 free safety Jhase Thomas at the star spot.
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