Whit Weeks, Bernard Gooden injury update: Thursday availability report reveals LSU defenders' status vs. Texas A&M

No. 3 Texas A&M and No. 20 LSU renew their highly-competitive SEC rivalry in Saturday night’s much-anticipated Top 20 showdown in Baton Rouge. The third-ranked Aggies (7-0, 4-0 SEC) enter as 2.5-point road favorites over the host Tigers (5-2, 2-2 SEC) with an over-under of 48.5 points, according to BetMGM.

LSU holds a 32-24-3 advantage in the all-time series though Texas A&M won last year’s game, 38-23, in College Station. The Aggies and Tigers have traded home wins in the series dating back to 2017, with the rivarlry’s last road victory coming in 2016 when LSU left College Station with a 54-39 win.

The SEC released its initial availability reports Wednesday evening, with daily reports to also be posted Thursday and Friday night before the final report roughly 90 minutes before Saturday’s 7:30 pm ET kickoff in Baton Rouge.

LSU Tigers

• OL Tyree Adams – OUT
• DE Jimari Butler – PROBABLE
• DL Bernard Gooden – PROBABLE
• DE Gabriel Reliford – OUT
• LB Whit Weeks – DOUBTFUL

Texas A&M Aggies

• S Bryce Anderson – OUT
• S Rashad Johnson Jr. – OUT
• RB Le’Veon Moss – OUT

All eyes are on the status of LSU junior middle linebacker Whit Weeks, the heart and soul of the Tigers defense who missed last week’s 31-24 loss at Vanderbilt while recovering from a bone bruise in his ankle. Weeks, who was listed as “doubtful” in Wednesday’s initial availability report, is expected to remain in a walking boot “for another couple of days” according to head coach Brian Kelly.

“Whit is still non-weightbearing,” Kelly said during Wednesday’s SEC Coaches Teleconference. “He’s in the boot, and we’ll keep the boot on him for another couple of days before we know what he can do. He’s been doing some additional treatments, and he’s feeling better, but we won’t know on him until later in the week.”

In better news, Tigers senior defensive linemen Bernard Gooden and Jimari Butler could be available vs. Texas A&M. Gooden, who suffered a bruised collarbone two weeks ago against South Carolina, was listed as “questionable” in Wednesday’s initial report, while Butler was listed as “probable.”

Meanwhile, Texas A&M has already ruled out starting running back Le’Veon Moss for a second-consecutive game after suffering an ankle injury against Florida two weeks prior. The Aggies also ruled out safety Rashad Johnson Jr. and tight end Kiotti Armstrong in Wednesday’s initial report.