LSU’s initial availability report kicked the internet anthill Wednesday night.
The Tigers remained remarkably healthy throughout fall camp and didn’t appear to suffer any visible injuries in either game versus Clemson or Louisiana Tech. Phillip Wright III left the game against the Bulldogs, but it’s been a healthy club.
That’s why it was jarring to see three players ruled out, quarterback Sam Leavitt receive a “doubtful” designation, four linebackers listed and a total of 10 Tigers mentioned on the report.
KIFFIN’S REPORT HISTORY
When the report was issued, internet skepticism exploded. Kiffin’s history invites that. He once listed 26 players on the report entering Ole Miss’s 2024 game with Georgia.
He also listed quarterback Austin Simmons as “probable” and then removed him from the report altogether the next day prior to Ole Miss’s game with Arkansas in 2025. Trinidad Chambliss started the game, and Simmons entered the game briefly and was clearly compromised.
That led to speculation that Kiffin removed Simmons from the report so that Arkansas would still prepare for him despite the fact that he was unlikely to log significant time.
SAM’S SITUATION
On3’s Pete Nakos and 247sports’s Matt Zentiz both reported on Wednesday night that Leavitt had a sore throwing shoulder that kept him from throwing during practice. Our Matt Moscona has confirmed that, and sources indicated Leavitt “did not practice”.
NEW: LSU QB Sam Leavitt did not practice Wednesday due to an undisclosed injury, multiple sources confirm.
He received treatment and will be reevaluated today.
Additionally, LB TJ Dottery was also held out of Wednesday’s practice.
Sources are hopeful both players will be…
— Matt Moscona (@MattMoscona) September 17, 2026
I went back and looked at the Louisiana Tech game.
To begin the fourth quarter, Leavitt fired a 53-yard bomb to Tre Wilson that traveled more than 60 yards in the air. He was not hit on the play, only touched. On the next snap, LSU called a designed run for Leavitt who took it in from five yards out for the score. He was not hit on that play, either.
Reserve Landen Clark took the first snap of the next possession, handing to Wright III who was helped off the field. Leavitt reentered and threw a dump off to Stacy Gage. He wasn’t hit. Then a fade route to Trey’Dez Green where he wasn’t hit. Then a touchdown to Green. He wasn’t hit.
That was the end of Leavitt’s night.
If his shoulder was injured, it was not apparent over the course of the last two drives where he uncorked a 60-yard bomb and was not hit on the subsequent throws.
That would lead to two scenarios, either Leavitt is dealing with significant inflammation this week that didn’t bother him on Saturday or would have to have been injured during a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday practice. There is no contact on Monday, and the quarterbacks are never supposed to be hit at practice.
Leavitt was expected at player interviews on Tuesday but was removed from the schedule at the last minute.
DOUBTS ON DOTTERY
Just hours prior to being listed as questionable, TJ Dottery joined 104.5 ESPN’s Matt Moscona for an in-person interview that aired Wednesday afternoon on After Further Review.
Dottery expressed his excitement about going back to Oxford where he played two seasons. Injury issues never came up.
WHAT TO MAKE OF IT
It’s possible, but extremely unlikely, that LSU exited the Louisiana Tech game fairly healthy and ended up with the starting quarterback seriously injured, Dottery and Whit Weeks hurt though both conducted interviews on Tuesday and Wednesday, Green “probable” though he wore a no-contact jersey all of spring and fall camp to keep contact away and a total of 10 injured players on the report.
Football is a physical game, but Wright III was the only player I recall leaving the field on Saturday night. He’s out for the game. Getting nine more hurt in controlled practices is a wild injury outbreak if true.
There are three schools of thought.
One, LSU just had an awful week of injury luck, and the availability report is accurate.
Two, Kiffin is using gamesmanship and the report’s gray area to force Ole Miss to prepare for a backup quarterback while Leavitt will use the 25% chance to play the “doubtful” designation carries. He’s fine.
Three, Leavitt is hurt, but Kiffin wants the report to look suspicious, so he’s added healthy players around Leavitt so that the Ole Miss staff suspects he’s playing mind games as he did when they worked for him.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Kiffin has shown he has little respect for the availability reports. He’s also shown he’ll do anything to gain an edge. If Leavitt is 100%, he can lean on the fact that “doubtful” carries that 25% likelihood of participation and say, “he was really sore on Wednesday. But, he improved, so we played him. We never ruled him out.”
There is a “Duty to Act in Good Faith” clause in the league’s by laws that Leavitt falls into:
Institutional personnel have a duty to act in good faith to comply with this policy. Acts of gamesmanship intended to hide a student-athlete’s true participation status for competitive or strategic reasons are prohibited. Any other conduct that reasonably could be construed as misleading or creating unnecessary confusion regarding a student-athlete’s participation status is likewise prohibited. An institution must take extra precautions to act in good faith to accurately disclose the status of a high-profile student-athlete (e.g., starting quarterback, leading scorer on the basketball team, or best hitter on the baseball team).
It carries a penalty:
B. Football
In football, if a financial penalty is appropriate, the following penalty schedule applies to the offending institution:
• First Offense: $25,000 penalty
• Second Offense: $50,000 penalty
• Third Offense and Any Successive Offense: $100,000 penalty
I have a hard time digesting that Leavitt suffered a significant shoulder injury between the end of the game on Saturday and Wednesday night. That would be a massive mistake by a scout team pass rusher to blast the quarterback in season during practice. Certainly tendinitis or some sort of spasms would be possible.
It’s also possible Kiffin wanted Pete Golding and his staff to watch Landen Clark Elon tape for a few hours on Wednesday and Thursday.
If Leavitt is compromised the next two weeks, LSU’s season could hang in the balance. Saturday will come soon enough.
