The key to the 2025 LSU football team has been its defense. The Tigers have struggled to play well and find much consistency on offense from game to game, making the defense even more important. One of the leaders of their defense is their tackling machine, Whit Weeks, but before the game against Texas A&M on Saturday, it was announced that Weeks will be out after he missed their loss to Vanderbilt.
Weeks's absence for this game against the Aggies is enormous, considering LSU's College Football Playoff hopes are hanging by a thread. CBS Sports national senior college football reporter Matt Zenitz was the first to report that Weeks would be out, but he also said that Weeks should be back next week for LSU's game against Alabama.
Zenitz's post read “LSU star linebacker Whit Weeks (ankle) will miss tomorrow’s game against No. 3 Texas A&M, sources tell @CBSSports. On a positive note, Weeks will likely be back for the Tigers’ next game, which is against No. 4 Alabama, per sources.”
It is worth noting that the ankle injury kept Weeks out last week against Vanderbilt, so with him missing Texas A&M, it will be his second straight game sidelined.
Despite being available for only five games, Weeks has 26 total tackles, 12 being solos, and one sack on the season. He is coming off a career year in 2024, with 125 tackles and 3.5 sacks.
On his weekly radio show on Thursday night, LSU coach Brian Kelly said that if Weeks can't go, sophomore Davhon Keys and freshman Tylen Singleton will split time at the linebacker spot in his place. They both played against Vanderbilt last weekend, and it was a mixed-bag performance from the duo as Keys finished with nine tackles, which was second on the team for the game, while Singleton recorded one stop when he saw time.
“We felt like maybe we lost a little bit of that energy that had been apparent in our group (without Weeks and defensive lineman Bernard Gooden out),” Kelly said earlier this week. “As you can imagine, that was the first thing I addressed on Sunday. If they don't play, where is it coming from?”
The good news for the defense is that Bernard Gooden will be back for the Tigers and ready to play along the defensive line against Texas A&M. LSU needs all the help it can get against the third-ranked Aggies, and while it helps that the game is at home, they need to find some way to mask Weeks's loss.
