LSU got the 34-17 win over UCLA on Saturday, but it came at a tremendous cost on the defensive side of the ball.
Star linebacker [autotag]Harold Perkins Jr.,[/autotag] a versatile defender capable of rushing off the edge, playing off-ball linebacker and even working into the nickel spot in coverage, tore his ACL and will miss the remainder of his junior season.
Kelly confirmed reports of Perkins’ ACL tear on Monday.
“Certainly an injury we feel terrible about, especially for Harold and the work he has done to put himself in a great position,” Kelly said. “You lose players all the time, you just feel terrible for them individually because of all the work and time they put in. We’ll have somebody else step up like we have this year.”
When it comes to his future in Baton Rouge, there are a lot of questions facing Perkins. He entered the year viewed as a first-round draft pick, though his production through three games had declined a bit from last season.
With the NFL potentially calling, Kelly said Perkins and his family haven’t made any kind of decision in that regard yet. He said the staff isn’t worrying about whether Perkins will be a part of the team in 2025.
“Way too soon for him or his family to have made any kind of declaration whether this is his last game or not,” Kelly said. “I think they are just trying to get a hold of the surgery and the rehab associated with it. He’ll take all that into consideration. And when it’s time to make a decision, he will make a decision. Certainly, he has plenty of time before he has to make that decision.
“It’s been two seasons and four games, so it’s not even three (seasons). I think it’s really too soon for us to get into any of the ‘what happens if this is his last season?’ It’s two seasons of competition and four games, and probably rushing any type of comments relative to whether this was his last season or not, I think we’d have to tap the brakes on that.”
Without Perkins, the Tigers will have to rely on veterans [autotag]Greg Penn III[/autotag] and [autotag]West Weeks[/autotag], as well as [autotag]Whit Weeks[/autotag], who has impressed so far this season.
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