LSU Football: Tigers cornerback Derek Stingley Jr is “back to normal”
By Zach Ragan
LSU football cornerback Derek Stingley Jr was forced to miss the Tigers’ season-opener.
LSU football lost its season-opener against the Mississippi State Bulldogs for a myriad of reasons, but one of the biggest reasons for the loss was the absence of cornerback Derek Stingley Jr.
The sophomore defensive back was hospitalized on Friday night after having an adverse “reaction” to something (what that something was is unclear).
Stingley was discharged just before the start of the game but was obviously unable to play.
Not having the best defensive player in the nation was undoubtedly a big blow to Bo Pelini’s defense. And it forced the Tigers to use some players who weren’t necessarily ready for game-action.
The result was Mississippi State quarterback KJ Costello torching LSU’s defense for over 600 passing yards.
Fortunately for the Tigers, it looks like Stingley should be good to go for the matchup against Vanderbilt on Saturday.
LSU football could be getting its best player back
Stingley’s father spoke with 104.5’s Off the Bench on Tuesday morning and provided a positive update on his son’s status.
“He is good. He is himself. He is back to normal,” said Stingley’s father. “He was back to normal before the game started. He was ready to walk out of the hospital right before the game started, but he had to get his discharge papers.”
“He’s good to go. I am sure they will probably take it easy with him this week, but I am pretty sure he may wind up playing, as well. It is one of those moments where, me personally, I would hate to relive and go through it again. But he’s good. He is good and he is healthy and he is ready to go.”
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Getting Stingley back (if he does indeed play this week against Vandy) should provide the TIgers with the defensive boost they need to absolutely dominate the Commodores.
LSU is still a talented team. They just need to get healthy, get fired up, and continue to follow the plan that Ed Orgeron has laid out for them.