Harold Perkins, Whit Weeks injury updates: Brian Kelly updates offseason recovery

The LSU Tigers lost a pair of key linebackers over the course of last season, with both Harold Perkins and Whit Weeks going down with injuries. Now, head coach Brian Kelly is excited to get them back in the mix for what should be an improved LSU defense in 2025.

Ahead of organized team activities, Kelly appeared on the College GameDay Podcast. There, he shared a positive injury update on both Harold Perkins and Whit Weeks as they look to get back on the field.

“We’re in our running program right now and our PLPs,” Brian Kelly said. “Which are our player-led position work and practices. They’re in everything. So, it’s been a great recovery. They’ve worked really hard. I think our training staff has done an amazing job of getting both of these guys to the point where they’re already taking place in June activities and football-related activities.”

Harold Perkins has had a lot of excitement surrounding him since his breakout as a freshman. However, he was extremely limited in 2024 because of a torn ACL in his right knee. Prior to that, he had 164 tackles in 31 games. That includes 28 tackles for a loss and 13 sacks, as well as two interceptions and seven passes defended. As a freshman in 2022, he was also a First-Team All-SEC selection. He’d go on to be a Second-Team All-SEC selection in 2023.

White Weeks, for his part, suffered a gruesome ankle injury in the Texas Bowl. That would require surgery to repair his broken fibula. Neither of those are small injuries by any means. In 24 games, he has 174 total tackles, including 14 tackles for a loss and 4.0 sacks. He also has an interception and three passes defended. Even with the injury, he’d be a First-Team All-SEC selection in 2024.

“Both of them will be ready. Both of them are excited,” Kelly said. “They come into a year where they know a lot of the success will fall around them.”

This comes as LSU is preparing for its second season under Blake Barker. Without the need to install the defense, the hope for Brian Kelly is that the defense can finally get healthy and begin to take a major step forward ahead of a pivotal season for the program.

Formal practice ahead of the season is still a few weeks away. There, the Tigers will quickly need to get ready before LSU opens the season at the other Death Valley against Clemson.