Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images
By Hunt Palmer
Garrett Nussmeier does not need surgery.
When asked what he could reveal about the “torso” injury he mentioned in September, LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly squashed any speculation that Nussmeier would need to go under the knife.
“That’s misinformation,” Kelly said. “Those (rumors) are not based on any facts. It’s quite silly, actually…Early on, he had an ab strain, not a core injury in terms of a core injury that we deal with. And it’s been slow to heal.”
Nussmeier has continued to practice and play. He has not been listed on any of LSU’s availability reports leading up to conference games against Florida or Ole Miss.
“He’s on the back side of that, and he’s getting rest this week,” Kelly said. “He’ll be the Garrett Nussmeier that he needs to be as we get into the very difficult part of our schedule.”
In addition to rest, treatment continues, as well.
“Our training staff and physicians have treated him with medication,” Kelly said. “That’s been part of the procedures and protocols, but we knew coming to this bye week that this was going to be the time for us not to be pushing him. This is where he could really, truly be the best version of himself. And as we move forward, I think you’re going to see the best football from Garrett Nussmeier.”
As the Tigers go through a short week that involves a weekend off, Nussmeier is still preparing as his physical workload lightens.
“A lot of mental work this week in terms of film study,” Kelly said. “Looking at the things that he’s done this year. Just doing a really deep dive, offense in particular, the things he can control in the game that he wants to get better at.”
The Tiger passing game hasn’t found its rhythm yet in 2025. Nussmeier was the National Offensive Player of the Week for his effort against Clemson in the opener. Since then, LSU has sputtered on offense.
Plenty of work is being done to get that rectified with a week off.
“He was really good on Saturday with the run game checks and getting the ball out when we didn’t have fair numbers,” Kelly said. “We want to build on that, and then we want to build on his consistency in terms of the pocket. He’s great to work with because he wants to do all those things on (virtual reality). There’s a number of different ways for us to build on what he needs to do on a play-to-play basis without having him throw the ball 100 times.”
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