Garrett Dellinger injury update: Initial status for LSU OL vs. Vanderbilt emerges

With two games left on the regular season schedule, LSU could be set to get some reinforcements up front. And they’ll come in the form of junior Garrett Dellinger.

After missing several weeks with an injury, Dellinger is closing in on his return, perhaps against Vanderbilt this week. And his status — along with plenty of other Tigers and some Commodores — is coming into focus with the first SEC injury report of the week.

See the full gamut of statuses below.

Full LSU-Vanderbilt Wednesday injury report

LSU:

S Jordan Allen – Out
LB Harold Perkins Jr. – Out
CB JK Johnson – Out
WR Kyle Parker – Out
RB John Emery Jr. – Out
DE Princeton Malbrue – Out
DT Jacobian Guillory – Out
OL Miles Frazier – Questionable
OL Garrett Dellinger – Questionable
WR CJ Daniels – Probable
RB Caden Durham – Probable

Vanderbilt

WR Dariyan Wiley – Out
DL Zaylin Wood – Out
CB Mark Davis – Out
EDGE Boubacar Diakite – Out
OL Grayson Morgan – Out
DL Bradley Mann – Out

And on the SEC coaches teleconference on Wednesday, LSU head coach Brian Kelly offered an update on Dellinger’s status.

“He practiced a little bit yesterday,” Kelly said. “We’re taking it day by day. Look, I think it’s important when you’re coming back from this tightrope surgery that there’s kind of stages. You don’t throw him in for everything. Yesterday he was part of our pass protections, and he felt comfortable there. Today we’re going to get him involved in the run game. So we’re making progress.”

Dellinger was a key cog in an offensive line that was quite good until he went down. He just might have been the glue guy.

When he suffered his injury, LSU had given up only two sacks on the season. Since, they’ve surrendered a bunch, including a season-high seven to Florida in a loss on Saturday.

So getting Dellinger back would be huge.

“I would say that I’m optimistic, but each day we’ve got to work on building that confidence where he feels he can go out and be an asset for us,” Kelly said Wednesday.

Prior to Wednesday’s updates, Kelly had noted that the team would probably make a decision on Dellinger’s status in the middle of the week, after coaches have seen him practice a bit.

“We’re getting closer to where we think there’s a chance that he could play,” Kelly said, “but we won’t make that decision until probably midweek.”

Redshirt freshman Paul Mubenga has been the primary replacement for Garrett Dellinger in recent weeks, though he has struggled a bit.