LSU beat Texas A&M 35-6. Nobody in purple and gold is sending that one back.
The cost showed up later, when Whit Weeks came out of it on crutches.
Doctors checked him out after the game. What they found wasn’t good news for the Tigers.
Sources said the senior linebacker broke his leg, and nobody can say yet when he’ll be back. He’ll have surgery Monday. Reports differ on which leg was hurt.
It’s a tough blow for a team that already came out of the Ole Miss game banged up. The A&M win looked like a strong answer to that rough stretch.
Now LSU’s defense faces a real test. The Tigers are about to find out how deep their bench goes.
Weeks isn’t just another name on the depth chart. He’s a team captain. He’s the “green dot” guy. Coaches send him the play by headset, and he tells everybody else the plan.
I'm pretty sure this is where LSU LB Whit Weeks injures his ankle, gets tackled by his own teammate Jhase Thomas and then stays in the next play but only slightly engages, then comes out right after and is replaced by Keys. pic.twitter.com/tSwHeeQokz
— Michael Cauble (@Cauble) September 27, 2026
Why Weeks matters so much to Tigers
Think of him as the guy holding the TV remote. Take it away and somebody else has to pick the channel for everybody.
He owns 229 career tackles and 19 tackles for loss. He had 24 tackles in four games before this latest injury.
In 2024, he made 125 tackles as a sophomore, and 10 of them came for loss. That season put him among the best on the defense.
Since then, his body hasn’t cooperated.
Injuries have held him to a dozen games since the start of last season. He needed surgery after getting hurt in the 2024 Texas Bowl. Then a right ankle injury wiped out the rest of his 2025 season after eight games.
That makes this his third major setback in three years.
The good news? This one isn’t expected to end his year. The Tigers will get a clearer picture after surgery. Early hope is a return in four to six weeks.
Dahvon Keys gets the call
Dahvon Keys filled in for Weeks.
He’s done this before.
Last season, Keys made four starts with Weeks sidelined. Nobody on the team made more tackles in 2025. Keys finished with 92, and he did it without being the full-time starter.
He added six tackles against the Aggies after taking over.
That’s the kind of backup plenty of programs would love to have. Still, filling in for a leader takes more than tackling.
Who’ll handle the green dot duties is still an open question. Somebody has to take the calls and keep 10 other guys lined up.
The injury list keeps growing for LSU
Weeks joins a crowded training room.
The Ole Miss game hit hard. Defensive back Dashawn Spears is done for the year after a knee injury against the Rebels. Tight end Trey’Dez Green got hurt in that game, too. He should be back before the season ends.
Sam Leavitt played through a sore hamstring against A&M. The coach said nothing’s changed with his quarterback.
Tamarcus Cooley was a question mark before kickoff. He suited up anyway.
Lane Kiffin, in his first year running the program, said he hasn’t seen anything like it.
“I’ve not been around this many significant injuries early in the year like this. It’s really unfortunate,” Kiffin said. “The good thing was guys stepped up and played in place of really significant players, with Spears and Trey’Dez being out, and now with Whit.”
Kiffin’s point carries some weight. LSU has 42 transfers on the roster and possibly the priciest payroll in college football. Stacking the roster that deep was supposed to cover weeks like this one.
A family tie inside the building
There’s one more wrinkle. Weeks and Landry Kiffin, the coach’s daughter, are a couple. Their relationship began during Kiffin’s Ole Miss days.
At SEC media days, Weeks said the setup doesn’t change how things work on the job.
“It hasn’t affected my relationship with him at all,” Weeks said.
“I know that when we go in that building, everyone in our building has the same mindset and the same goals,” he added.
LSU’s linebacker room could use a little of that mindset right now.
