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Game Day Injury Report: LSU missing multiple starters vs. Vanderbilt

On3 imageby: Shea Dixon10 hours agosheadixon
LSU's team captain is battling an injury at the midway point of the season (Photo: © Ayrton Breckenridge/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
LSU's team captain is battling an injury at the midway point of the season (Photo: © Ayrton Breckenridge/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

The LSU Football team will be without multiple starters on defense, while other notable Tigers are set to return from injuries.

LSU star linebacker and team captain Whit Weeks will not suit up vs. the Commodores after being listed as doubtful to play on the team’s final injury report to close out the week.

With Weeks sidelined, the Tigers will turn to another linebacker who has logged 200-plus snaps in Davhon Keys, a second-year player who has stepped into a starting role already this season as a result of injuries at the linebacker position.

Weeks is working through an ankle bruise that limited his snaps a week ago in LSU’s win over South Carolina.

LSU will also be without starting defensive lineman Bernard Gooden, who is sidelined with a bruised collarbone, an injury that occurred in the win over the Gamecocks. Expect LSU to use a mix of backups at the position to fill the void, including veteran Jacobian Guillory, sophomore Ahmad Breaux, and true freshman Buddy Mathis.

A third player on defense, backup defensive end Jimari Butler, will also be out vs. the Commodores on Saturday morning in Nashville. Butler, who has seen snaps behind fellow transfer Jack Pyburn, has found production coming off the bench for the Tigers this season. With Butler not set to play vs. Vanderbilt, expect a heavy dose of Pyburn and additional reps for backup defensive end Dylan Carpenter.

LSU starting wide receiver Aaron Anderson and starting left guard Paul Mubenga were both listed as probable to play this week after both sat out of the game for the Tigers a week ago.

Now, both are set to be active for the 11 a.m. CT kickoff in Nashville.

Anderson leads the team in receiving yards and is a key piece to finding both rhythm and explosive plays on an LSU offense that has struggled do create both across the team’s 5-1 start. When Anderson was sidelined, wide receiver Kyle Parker stepped into a starting role and turned in the biggest game of his career in purple-and-gold.

Mubenga’s absence saw Coen Echols step into first-team reps at left guard, and it’s a position the Tigers have rotated in games this season after a tight battle for the starting nod between the two players in fall camp.