Tyree Adams injury update: Brian Kelly reveals LSU OL underwent tightrope ankle surgery

LSU offensive lineman Tyree Adams underwent tightrope ankle surgery this week, Tigers coach Brian Kelly said Thursday on his radio show. On3’s Pete Nakos reported the expectation was Adams would miss this week’s game against Texas A&M.

Adams went down in the first quarter of last week’s loss at Vanderbilt with the injury. He later returned to the sidelines on crutches and in street clothes.

As for Adams’ status going forward, Kelly said it’s about a four or five-week recovery period after the procedure. He left the door open for the LSU left tackle to return by the end of the year, but given the timeline, it could be close.

“He had a tightrope surgery, which is the surgery that they do for high ankle sprains,” Kelly said. “He had that surgery on Tuesday. That generally takes four to five weeks to come back. So maybe we’ll have him by the end of the year, maybe not.”

Tyree Adams has become a key piece of the LSU offensive line after appearing in eight games last year, including two starts. He has been tasked with protecting Garrett Nussmeier’s blind side, and Kelly confirmed Carius Curne would start in Adams’ place.

But as he evaluated the offensive line, Kelly pointed out the amount of youth on the offensive line. However, he said Curne and Weston Davis had the right mentality in practice this week, and he has confidence they can rise to the occasion against Texas A&M.

“We’re going to start Carius Curne at left tackle,” Kelly said. “So there’s a true freshman on the one side and then, there’s a redshirt freshman tackle on the other. I’d like to tell you that they’ve got three years’ experience in the SEC, but they don’t. But they’re going to compete their tails off – both of them.

“I was really pleased with the way they attacked things this week. … Again, [Curne is] a true freshman, so there’s going to be some mistakes. We’re going to have to live with some of those. But he’s going to fight his butt off, and that’s what I like about him.”

LSU is looking to bounce back from the loss to Vanderbilt last time out, taking a 5-2 record into Saturday night’s matchup. The Tigers will welcome the last remaining undefeated SEC team in Texas A&M, and they’ll get to do so with a primetime game under the lights at Death Valley.