BATON ROUGE - The injury to LSU football starting middle linebacker West Weeks isn't believed to be a long-term issue, head coach Brian Kelly said Monday morning.
During his appearance on SEC This Morning, Kelly detailed the extent of the Weeks' injury that he suffered during LSU's win against Florida Saturday night inside Tiger Stadium. The Tigers coach provided an optimistic timeline for Weeks' recovery and possible return to the field for the No. 4 Tigers (3-0).
"Much better news than what we thought at first," Kelly said of the injury.
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Per Kelly, Weeks won't practice Monday or Tuesday of this week. Rather, he will wear a walking boot before the team attempts to have him go through practice Wednesday at the earliest this week ahead of the Tigers' game versus Southeastern Louisiana Saturday (6:45 p.m. CT, SEC Network).
The senior linebacker went down on a play late in the third quarter in which he was pursuing Gators quarterback D.J. Lagway on a scramble play, landing awkwardly, and in do so, strained his calf.
Weeks walked off the field under his own power with athletic trainers, and his younger brother and fellow linebacker Whit Weeks by his side, but did not return to the game. During the broadcast on ABC, he was shown visibly upset, crying as LSU coaches, teammates and support staffers came over to offer encouragement to him.
"We don't think it's a serious injury," Kelly said following LSU's 20-10 win over Florida on Saturday. "It's not a knee. It's not an MCL, but it was a calf injury, and he couldn't really put any pressure on it. So, our doctors felt it was prudent that if he couldn't put enough pressure on it, he was not going to be effective."
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.