Ryan Williams, Whit Weeks injury update: Thursday availability report reveals Alabama, LSU stars' status

Alabama and LSU renew their bitter rivalry Saturday night in Tuscaloosa in what will be the Tigers’ first game since parting ways with now-former head coach Brian Kelly, who was fired one day after LSU’s 49-25 home loss to No. 3 Texas A&M two weeks ago. Both teams are coming off their second and final byes of the regular season.

The two longtime SEC rivals have gone in wildly different directions this season, with the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide (7-1, 5-0 SEC) in the midst of a seven-game win streak while the Tigers (5-3, 2-3 SEC) have lost three of their last four with all three losses coming against Top 20-ranked SEC opponets. The back-to-back loses to Vanderbilt and Texas A&M effectively eliminated LSU from College Football Playoff contention for the fifth consecutive season.

Alabama holds a 57-27-5 all-time advantage vs. LSU, and has dominated the series of late, winning the last two straight and 12 of the last 14 against the Tigers dating back to the Crimson Tide’s infamous 21-0 shutout in the 2012 BCS National Championship game. Saturday’s kickoff between No. 4 Alabama and LSU is set for 7:30 pm ET with the game televised on ABC.

Alabama Crimson Tide

• DL Jeremiah Beaman – OUT
• LB Cayden Jones – OUT
• DB Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. – OUT
• LB Jah-Marien Latham – OUT
• LB Qua Russaw – OUT
• TE Danny Lewis Jr. – QUESTIONABLE
• WR Ryan Williams – PROBABLE

LSU Tigers

• OL Tyree Adams – OUT
• DE Gabriel Reliford – OUT
• LB Zach Weeks – OUT
• LB Whit Weeks – DOUBTFUL

All eyes in Tuscaloosa are once again on the status of superstar Alabama sophomore wideout Ryan Williams, who was listed as “probable” in Wednesday’s initial availability report. Williams previously appeared on the Tide’s availability report ahead of its game vs. Missouri after taking a hard hit and leaving the game vs. Vanderbilt last month.

Meanwhile, Alabama has already ruled out linebackers Jah-Marien Latham (neck), Qua Russaw (foot) and Cayden Jones (ankle) and defensive lineman Jeremiah Beaman (knee), with Beaman and Latham both out for the remainder of the season.

On the other sideline, LSU junior linebacker Whit Weeks was listed as “questionable” in Wednesday’s availability report while still recovering from a bone bruise in his right ankle. Weeks has missed the Tigers’ last two games and could be in line for a third if he’s unable to work his way back in practice this week.

LSU interim head coach Frank Wilson revealed the plan was to try and ramp up Weeks’ activity level at practice this week based on his pain tolerance.

“Yeah, we’ll get him out there – I’m sorry, we’ll get him out there tomorrow to see what he can do and kind of measure it,” Wilson said Monday. “And, we’ll kind of build it as the week goes on based on his pain tolerance.”

Tigers freshman linebacker Zach Weeks, Whit Weeks’ younger brother, was also listed as “doubtful” in Wednesday’s availability report, while fellow freshman offensive lineman Carius Curne is “probable.”