LSU injury update: Interim coach Frank Wilson provides latest on Whit Weeks, Carius Curne

LSU is preparing for a monster showdown with rival No. 4 Alabama on Saturday. In doing so, it’s still in wait-and-see mode on star linebacker Whit Weeks.

Interim coach Frank Wilson provided an injury update on two key players on Wednesday on an SEC teleconference call. Along with Weeks, Wilson updated the status of offensive tackle Carius Curne.

“Carius will have a chance,” Wilson said. “I think his progress has been a steady one. He’s played more and more in each one of the practices, so I’m optimistic that he will have an opportunity to be able to play for us.”

Whit Weeks is perhaps the more significant of the two players Wilson provided an update on. He’s very much the heart and soul of the LSU defense.

He has missed the losses to both Vanderbilt and Texas A&M. The defense has really missed him.

But Wilson isn’t as optimistic that he’ll be able to return as Curne. He noted that on the teleconference call.

“Whit Weeks, not as much,” Wilson said. “I think he’s probably more doubtful at this time, considering today. We’ll see in today’s practice how he looks, so we’re hopeful but I’m not quite sure with Whit. But I think Carius Curne is trending in the right direction.”

Whit Weeks has logged 26 tackles in five full appearances this season, remaining one of the most productive players on the defense. He also has a sack and a fumble recovery.

Wilson explained what Weeks has been able to do in practice during the bye week. It’s a matter of overall mobility.

“He can put weight on it. He can straight-line run,” Wilson said. “He’ll be on the practice field. But the game isn’t just linear. Our sport is one of start and stop and changing directions, awkward position, bodies falling on you, acceleration, deceleration, jump, come down, compound, those things. That’s the true test.

“If you just walked out today and asked him to run, he could do that. So we have to put him in the situations to gauge his pain tolerance to see if he could. And he has a high threshold for pain tolerance. But you just don’t know, because it’s not just muscles that are in there. Sometimes it’s nerves and those other things that can be annoying, if you will. Or sharp pains. So we’ll just see. We’ll see if that subsides and allows him to be at his best.”