LSU safety Major Burns injured, out for spring
LSU safety Major Burns has been shut down for the rest of spring practices after suffering an injury this month.
On Tuesday, LSU head coach Brian Kelly said Burns re-aggravated an injury that left him out of uniform and in a walking boot. Burns was spotted in street clothes during Tuesday’s practice watching the team from the sidelines.
The news comes after the team’s other starting safety, Greg Brooks, was spotted in a walking boot a week ago.
Kelly’s outlook on Burns and Brooks
With both of LSU’s starting safeties battling injury, Kelly updated the media on the pair’s outlook the rest of the spring.
“Major has more of an injury (than Brooks). He had that ankle injury and he’s kind of re-injured that,” Kelly said. “We’re going to shut him down for the spring. We will have those guys back for all of their full training, but that’s just why you’re seeing young guys out there playing safety. We wanted to get healthy at those positions, more so.
“We won’t practice Major again, but we will probably get Greg back out there this weekend.”
Burns, a Baton Rouge native, is entering his third season with LSU after transferring from Georgia. In 2022, Burns totaled 38 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss. During his two seasons at LSU, he has 63 tackles and an interception along with the 3.5 tackles for loss.
Brooks is working through a sprained ankle, though he will return to the field – potentially – this week. However, he’s expected to be back for spring practice and could get on the field as soon as the weekend.
“He had a sprained ankle that was giving him some aggravation,” Kelly said. “We just kind of shut him down and tried to get him back to 100%.
“We won’t practice Major again, but we’ll probably get Greg out there this weekend.”
Brooks transferred to LSU from Arkansas and put up career numbers for LSU in 2022. He totaled 66 tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss, a sack and two interceptions to help anchor the Tigers secondary with Burns.
Who is up next at safety?
The safety position is one of the shallow spots when it comes to defensive depth, and with Matthew Langlois (injury) sidelined alongside Burns and Brooks, the Tigers are turning to other options.
On Tuesday, freshman Ryan Yaites worked at strong safety and second-year defensive back Jordan Allen worked at free safety. Freshman Javien Toviano worked behind Sage Ryan at the nickel position.
“Toviano is getting a chance to play some nickel,” Kelly said on Tuesday. “Yaites is playing a ton of safety. I don’t know that he would have gotten all this work, but it’s great that he is. He is having to make a lot of checks.
“A lot of adjustments have to be made on the back end, so as a head coach this is a cool spring because a lot of young guys have had to make a lot of checks. And it’s been a good proving ground for them.”
