Garrett Nussmeier injury update: Brian Kelly reveals if torso issue has impacted playcalling for LSU

With the news of an injury being dealt with by LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier, that might be a reasonable explanation as to why the Tigers’ offense hasn’t been as prolific the first three weeks of the season. That said, Brian Kelly noted that the issue isn’t affecting what they’re calling offensively.

Kelly explained the effect, or lack thereof, that Nussmeier’s torso injury has had on their offense during his press conference on Monday. He said it hasn’t changed their offensive playcalling, but what it could be influencing is his connection to the offense as a whole, mostly with the deep ball, as he hasn’t been as involved in practice since the season started as the injury came up in camp.

“No. Come Saturday, he’s good to go,” said Kelly. “We’ve limited him a little bit during the week because of some tightness that he’s had in his torso. It’s an upper-body injury that you want to be careful with how many reps he’s getting throwing the football. So, he’s overcoming that, but we cut him down substantially. I think he’s on the other side of that, but we had to be really careful with him the first few weeks.”

“No, (it hasn’t affected the downfield passing game). But, you know, you’re not working on it as much in practice. So, you know, when you get your shots, you know, you want to be able to take them but we’re not doing it a lot in practice,” Kelly continued. “We’re starting to pick up that pace. We started a little bit last week. We’ll continue to pick it up more this week.”

Kelly revealed the torso injury for Nussmeier as part of that presser this morning. He said it took place in camp, coming off a lot of throws made by him over this offseason, with it now being more of a managing it than anything else with the Tigers’ quarterback.

“In camp. Yeah, in camp,” Kelly said of the timeline with Nussmeier’s injury. “And, it’s the product of a lot of throws. He worked a lot this summer, a lot of throws. This was really about more of a management and shutting him down a little bit during the week. And, as I said, I think he’s on the other side of it, but we had to be careful with him.”

Through three games, Nussmeier is 69-106 (65.1%) for 689 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions. That, in a three-game sample size, represents worse statistics for him in touchdown-to-interception ratio as well as yards per attempt, per completion, and per game.

However, Kelly says Nussmeier is almost on the other side of this matter, with the Tigers just trying to get him to their first bye starting in two weeks. From there, LSU will look to really have the pass game going by then with him healthier for the second half of the season.

“I think, with the bye week after Ole Miss, we should be in a great place,” said Kelly.

Kelly reveals Nussmeier is playing through injury

Garrett Nussmeier was coming off of a 4,000 yard passing season and one of the favorites for the Heisman Trophy entering the season. However, through three games, it’s been a more inconsistent start than most had hoped for, with the offense is struggling to find its footing early on.

There now may be an underlying explanation for at least some of the limitations. Brian Kelly said on Monday that Nussmeier has been dealing with a torso injury that limited him late in fall camp and into the season, but that he’s progressing towards getting over it.

“He’s been slowed a little bit with a torso injury and he’s fighting through it and getting better. He’s not going to be able to shut it down until the bye week. I’m not saying that has been any of his troubles. He’s a symptom that we’re taking some plays away from him.”

“We’ve limited him throughout the week. It’s an upper body injury that you want to be careful how may reps he’s getting throwing the football. He’s overcoming that, but we had to be careful with him in the first few weeks. He should be in a great place after the bye week. It happened in camp. It’s a product of a lot of throws. This is more of management throughout the week. I think he’s on the other side of it, but we had to be careful.”