Brian Kelly reveals Greg Brooks absence due to 'medical emergency'
The LSU Tigers throttled the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday to the tune of a 41-14 beatdown in Starkville. Jayden Daniels looked marvelous for the Tigers and receiver Malik Nabers had a spectacular performance. There was one player missing for LSU on Saturday, and that was safety Greg Brooks, Jr.
Following the game, Tigers’ head coach Brian Kelly revealed that Brooks had a “medical emergency,” according to Wilson Alexander of The Advocate.
When asked when Brooks would play again, Kelly didn’t have an update.
“I wouldn’t be able to comment on it until we get a full medical report,” Kelly said.
Brooks Jr. racked up eight tackles and two pass breakups thus far in the 2023 campaign — ranking him sixth on the team in tackles.
Last year, Brooks racked up 66 tackles, three tackles for loss, three pass breakups, two interceptions, and a sack. Before coming to LSU, he played his first three seasons at Arkansas. His junior season with the Hogs, he racked up 48 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and an interception.
Greg Brooks might not have played, but Daniels and Nabers were spectacular on Saturday
Brooks might not have played on Saturday, but the Tigers got spectacular performances from Jayden Daniels and Malik Nabers.
Daniels racked up over 400 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns in a near flawless performance in the win. He simply couldn’t be stopped, except for his lack of desire to protect his body in running situations. Mississippi State safety Shawn Preston was ejected from the game after he absolutely leveled Daniels on an open field run.
It was a perfectly clean hit, and Daniels easily could have scooted out of bounds to avoid the contact. He still put together a masterful performance, completing 30 of 34 passes for 361 yards through the air, while tossing two touchdowns.
On the ground, he had 15 carries for 64 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Games like Saturday’s performance are exactly why so many people were so high on LSU coming into the 2023 campaign.
He connected with Malik Nabers throughout the game. Nabers put together one of the more dominant performances in school history by a receiver on Saturday, hauling in 188 receiving yards in the first half.
In the last 20 seasons, that ranked him fourth in LSU history, behind Kayshon Boutte, Ja’Marr Chase, and Terrace Marshall, Jr. Nabers hauled in four catches of 25+ yards in the first half against the Bulldogs, the most for an LSU player in the opening half of a game since Ja’Marr Chase in 2019 against Vanderbilt.
Once the day was done, he had hauled in 13 catches for 239 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
As a high school prospect coming out of West Jefferson (Harvey, Louisiana), Greg Brooks was rated as a four-star prospect and the No. 348 overall recruit in the country in the 2019 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Rankings. It’ll be interesting to see when he returns to the lineup for the Tigers.
Up next for Brian Kelly and the Tigers, they’ll face off against the Arkansas Razorbacks on Sept. 23rd. Kickoff time for that one is slated for 7 p.m. EST.