LSU’s Brian Kelly delivers injury updates on Jayden Daniels, Sevyn Banks

LSU football barely escaped Jordan-Hare Stadium with a win on Saturday. The Tigers—who found themselves in a 17-0 hole early on—left the Plains with a 21-17 victory. Their record improves to 4-1 overall (2-0 in Southeastern Conference play) after the win. Nevertheless, it was the closest call that Brian Kelly’s team has had in a victory this season. Welcome to an SEC schedule.

The Bayou Bengals found themselves limping back to Louisiana given the players who were injured throughout the game. It’s easy to forget when looking back at the contest, but LSU did finish the 2022 Tiger Bowl with backup quarterback Garrett Nussmeier under center. Kelly delivered an update on these players a couple of days ago in his weekly press conference.

LSU’s Brian Kelly delivers injury updates on Jayden Daniels, Sevyn Banks

There are two major health concerns within the Tigers’ fanbase after the win against Auburn: Sevyn Banks and Jayden Daniels.

The former found himself in the midst of a scary situation on the kickoff. Banks unintentionally led into a tackle on the return man with his head. His helmet slammed into the side of the Auburn player at a high speed, which immediately saw him fall motionless to the ground. Fans around Jordan-Hare Stadium fell silent as trainers attended to Banks and eventually carted him off on a stretcher. He was later taken to a local hospital.

Given the possible severity of the situation, LSU got the best news possible on Banks. He will miss five to six weeks (essentially the remainder of the season) with a spinal cord bruise. Luckily, he is expected to make a full recovery. While it’s sad that Banks’ season was cut severely short due to injury, everyone is just glad to see that he is OK after the scenes on Saturday.

As for Daniels, Kelly stated on the Paul Finebaum Show that his QB1 could have come back into the game against Auburn. However, the coaching staff ultimately decided to turn to Nussmeier as Daniels’ rushing ability was limited by his knee injury. Daniels is already back at practice though and he will likely be under center again versus Tennessee at the weekend.

Elsewhere, left guard Garrett Dellinger has joined Daniels back at practice. The offensive lineman missed the contest at Auburn due to a fractured left hand. The Tigers missed him desperately in their first real test against a physical defensive line. Dellinger is expected to play against the Volunteers, which provides a huge boost to Mike Denbrock’s offense.

Lastly, lead running back Armoni Goodwin will be out for four-to-six weeks with a torn hamstring, according to ESPN. He was originally ruled day-to-day by Kelly but it now seems the injury was worse than expected. In his absence, expect all three LSU backs (Noah Cain, John Emery and Josh Williams) to get a few more touches per game.

It goes without saying Banks and Goodwin will be missed in the coming weeks. The Tigers have the talent necessary to keep on chugging, and replace them for the time being with capable players, especially in both of those positions.