Whit Weeks injury: Major update emerges on LSU LB after gruesome Texas Bowl exit

LSU linebacker Whit Weeks was one of the most dominant forces in college football this season for the Tigers. Unfortunately for Weeks and his teammates, he suffered a serious injury in their 44-31 bowl win over the Baylor Bears. On Thursday, the star linebacker underwent surgery to repair his broken fibula, according to Wilson Alexander of The Advocate. He did not suffer any ligament damage and is expected to make a full recovery in the next few months.

Weeks was carted off the field with an air cast around his right leg with 1:41 to play in the second quarter after getting caught up at the bottom of the pile on a one-yard touchdown run by Baylor’s Dawson Pendergrass that cut LSU’s lead in half, 28-14.

Weeks stayed down, grabbing his right leg as Tigers trainers attended to him on the field. LSU’s entire team came off their sideline to surround Weeks and offer support as he was carted to the locker room for further evaluation.

Brian Kelly calls Whit Weeks as ‘the heartbeat of your team’

Kelly credited the LSU team’s reaction to Weeks’ standing as “the heartbeat” of the Tigers defense.

“There’s been times when the heartbeat of your team, and particularly the defense, I don’t think they knew the nature of the injury so they were very guarded about what it might have been,” Kelly continued. “I actually told the team before we went back out (in the second half) what the nature of the injury was just so we didn’t have any lingering effects going into the second half so that they could play and get back to what was most important, and that was finishing off the game.”

Weeks was in the midst of a breakout sophomore season at LSU. He entered Tuesday’s bowl game with 119 tackles, including an SEC-leading 58 solo stops, along with 10 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. Prior to his injury, he had a team-high six tackles.

Weeks arrived on campus last year as a freshman out of Watkinsville (Ga.) Oconee County, where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 149 overall player from the 2023 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

LSU had an up-and-down go through Kelly’s third season in Baton Rouge, finishing with an 9-4 record after their victory in the Texas Bowl.

On3’s Alex Byington also contributed to this article.