LSU CB Sevyn Banks injury update is positive
In the opening moments of LSU’s win over Auburn, Jordan-Hare Stadium fell silent as LSU cornerback Sevyn Banks laid motionless on the field.
On the opening kickoff, Banks went in for a tackle and collided head-first with an Auburn player. After attention from the medical staffs on hand, Banks was put carted off the field and taken to the East Alabama Medical Center for further medical attention.
Monday morning, LSU head coach Brian Kelly shared some positive news after Banks was discharged from the hospital and returned home with the team.
“The diagnosis is a spinal cord bruise. Nothing else. No structural issues,” Kelly said.
“So, really fortunate and really appreciate all the help that we got from our own medical team, and certainly Auburn’s as well, in what was a very scary situation.”
Kelly said Banks, who transferred in from Ohio State this offseason, has a chance to return to the field given the Tigers still have two months of regular season games in front of them.
“That’s probably going to take five, six weeks before we can get him back,” Kelly said, adding that the injury is similar to the one defensive back Major Burns suffered in September. “Now, Major Burns starts — so talking about similar patterns here, Major Burns starts running today. He will be outside running with us. Next week he’ll begin non-contact drills, football non-contact drills with us. There will be a similar protocol and procedure (with Banks), provided there’s no setbacks along the way.”
Banks missed the first three games of the 2022 season as he worked back to full health from hip surgery while at Ohio State, which sidelined him for the end of the 2021 season with the Buckeyes. Banks played the past four years in Columbus before entering the transfer portal during the offseason.
During his time with the Buckeyes, he totaled 43 tackles and 3.0 tackles for loss before taking his talents to Baton Rouge for his redshirt senior season. Prior to his injury on Saturday, the senior had appeared in one game in Baton Rouge, totaling four tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss in LSU’s victory over New Mexico.
LSU fell behind 17-0 in the second quarter, but the Tigers rebounded on the road with a strip-sack turned scoop-and-score before a big catch-and-run from running back John Emery to set up a goal line touchdown. LSU’s defense didn’t allow another point the rest of the way, and the Tigers got the game-winner in the second half thanks to a 20-yard run from Emery.
“Any road win, obviously, is a great win,” Kelly said. “Especially in the fashion that we came back from a 17-0 deficit.
“I think the things that stand out after doing a deeper dive, defensively in the second half the turnovers, taking the football away. Then, you know, running the football. We looked at our last three SEC games, we’re averaging six yards per rush in the second half. I think we’ve said from the very beginning the ability to run the football in the SEC was going to be a very important part of winning football games.
“We would like to win them in a different fashion, but winning is winning. I think those things stand out.”
