BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — No. 16 LSU will respond to defensive tackle Jacobian Guillory’s season-ending injury not by elevating one reserve into a starting role, but by adapting the Tigers’ alignment up front to suit the strengths of available players, coach Brian Kelly said on Monday.
Kelly confirmed that Guillory’s injury during Saturday night’s victory over Nicholls State was a torn Achilles tendon. He added that coaches are speaking with the senior defensive lineman and his family about a possible medical redshirt, which would give Guillory an opportunity to play for the Tigers next season.
“He was a stalwart for us, a big physical, point-of-attack guy,” Kelly said as his team began preparations for this Saturday’s game at South Carolina. “You’re losing a very strong inside presence to your defense, and so you’ve got to look at who can make up for that.”
Junior college transfer Shone Washington got the bulk of the work after Guillory went down against Nicholls, but that alone won’t be the plan going forward.
Washington “played very, very well. So, he’s going to be the first guy that picks up a piece of those” snaps that Guillory had been getting, Kelly said.
Dominick McKinley, who did not play in LSU’s first two games, could get a chance to play earlier than initially planned, Kelly said.
Another option would entail moving a versatile defensive end to the interior situationally. Defenses sometimes do so to augment their pass rush, and Kelly noted that Guillory “wasn’t a dynamic pass rusher, and he would be the first to tell you.”
Meanwhile, Kelly provided health updates on receiver Chris Hilton, left guard Garrett Dellinger, and receiver Kyle Parker, leaving open the possibility that all three could play this weekend.
Hilton has an unspecified “bone bruise” that has kept him out of the first two games. Kelly said he’s now “day-to-day” and cleared for all football related activities. But Kelly indicated that Hilton might not be pain-free, saying the timing of his return will come down to what he can “tolerate.”
“He has all function now,” Kelly said. “It’s just a matter of time now with Chris.”
Kelly said Dellinger, who has an upper body injury, has been cleared to practice on Tuesday, and that Parker’s elbow injury is improving and they he could be practicing by week’s end.
Storm preparations
Kelly said he spent part of Monday morning in discussions about the potential for Tropical Storm Francine to hit Louisiana as a hurricane in the middle of the week and the possibility of thunder storms causing delays during Saturday’s game in Columbia, South Carolina.
“There’s one thing that I’ve learned about being here at LSU,” Kelly said. “There are plans over plans over plans when people talk about hurricanes.”
As for Saturday’s game, Kelly has met with trainers discuss plans for keeping players loose in the event of weather delays.
“It’s been a long morning on hurricanes and thunder storms,” Kelly said.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
