Aaron Anderson injury update: Brian Kelly details long list of ailments, status vs. South Carolina

The LSU Tigers are heading into the bye week looking to get plenty of things corrected following the loss to Ole Miss. For wide receiver Aaron Anderson, the goal is going to be to get healthy after he’s been dealing with a litany of ailments.

It was reported by ESPN during the Ole Miss game that Anderson was forced to miss stretches due to an elbow issue. Now, Brian Kelly has shared that the injury goes beyond that point and he’s actually dealing with several notable issues, many of which would be considered lower body injuries. Those are issues he’s looking to clean up in the bye week as he tries to get back on the field for the South Carolina game.

“He had a litany of things,” Brian Kelly said on Wednesday. “Hip, toe, knee, yeah, he’s banged up. If we were playing Saturday, I would say he’d probably answer the bell, but he’s going to benefit greatly from the week off.”

ESPN’s Molly McGrath was working the sidelines for the Ole Miss-LSU game. There, she noted that Aaron Anderson was in some visible pain. She would highlight a strained right elbow. However, the issue clearly went beyond that, given what Brian Kelly was able to share during the weekly SEC teleconference.

Luckily, for the time being, it doesn’t appear Anderson is dealing with anything long-term. He’s going to get some extra time off, going into a bye week. After that, Kelly feels confident that he’s going to be back out there for the Tigers when they host South Carolina.

“Yeah,” Kelly said. “I think modern medicine will get him ready for the South Carolina game.”

Aaron Anderson is now in his third season at LSU. In 2024, he would quickly become a great target for quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, snagging 61 receptions for 884 yards and five touchdowns. He was hoping to build on that in 2025, and through five games, he has 23 receptions for 305 yards. That’s a slight regression in terms of yards per game, down to 61 from 68 a season ago. However, being limited by Ole Miss doesn’t help that average.

Brian Kelly calls out regarding LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier, injury concerns

There have been some injury concerns raised around LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier. In particular, the idea he is dealing with some kind of core injury that’s making it difficult to throw the ball. However, Brian Kelly called out misinformation regarding his star quarterback.

“That’s misinformation,” Kelly said via the SEC Coaches Teleconference. “Those are not based on any facts. They’re quite silly, actually… This is misinformation. Early on, he had an ab strain, not a core injury, in terms of what a core injury that we deal with. And it’s been slow to heal. But as I mentioned, he’s on the backside of that. He’s getting rest this week and he’ll be the Garrett Nussmeier he needs to be as we get into the difficult part of our schedule.”

Regardless, like Aaron Anderson, having a week off to reset mentally and get healthy physically can’t hurt Garrett Nussmeier. On the backside of that, the Tigers will look to get back on track at home against South Carolina on October 11th.