Brian Kelly confirmed Monday that LSU linebacker Harold Perkins, Jr. suffered a torn ACL against UCLA and will miss the remainder of the season.
Perkins was injured while making a tackle in the third quarter. On third and 35, Perkins hit UCLA’s Jalen Berger after making a reception over the middle. He immediately went to the ground after his knee buckled. He walked to the locker room under his own power but was seen leaving Tiger Stadium on crutches.
“Certainly, an injury that we feel terrible about,” Kelly said. “Especially for Harold and the work that he’s done to put himself in a great position. You lose players all the time. You just feel terrible for them individually because of all the work and time they put in.”
Kelly said he was unsure of a timeline for surgery and recovery and said the team will have to plan for yet another veteran loss.
“We lose Jacobian (Guillory). That was a tough loss for us,” Kelly said. “But a true freshman Ahmad Breaux comes in and does a great job for us the last three weeks. We lose John Emery, and another true freshman comes in in Caden Durham and does a great job for us. Similarly, we’ll have someone step in here as well.”
Stepping in for Perkins presents its challenges. The junior linebacker led the Tigers in sacks a season ago and carries the reputation as one of the most dynamic defensive playmakers in the SEC.
“From an offensive standpoint, you’ve got to know where (Perkins) is,” Kelly said. “You’re gameplanning against a guy who can wreck your day. So, you lose that piece right away, but our players clearly understand that in this game that you’re going to get injuries. So, we’re not going to lose our identity or fall apart because of it.”
Kelly said that senior West Weeks would move into the three-linebacker looks for LSU, bumping Greg Penn to the weak side. Whit Weeks would start at the strong side position. True freshman Xavier Atkins was the next name Kelly mentioned as a reserve.
“We would probably also look at a star position with Major Burns playing the star backed up by Kylin Jackson,” Kelly said. “That would be the other look that we would have, so we have the versatility to be in either one of those defensive structures.”
