Brian Kelly on John Emery Jr. injury: 'We feel sick'

John Emery Jr. will have a season cut short by injury for the second consecutive year after news came this week that he had again torn his ACL. That was as upsetting of an update as LSU could have gotten on the sixth-year running back according to Brian Kelly.

Kelly spoke about Emery and the Tigers’ reaction to the loss during his press conference on Thursday. He said that they just didn’t think that it was right for him to lose another season due to his health, especially in the manner in which it happened. In that answer, he also shared that Emery had undergone successful surgery earlier yesterday morning.

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“Obviously, we feel sick about John,” said Kelly. “You know, it’s just – sometimes you think about this and you just wonder, you know, how can this be fair in any way to this poor kid. I mean he has just overcome so many obstacles. You know, he’s in a non-contact situation, he sticks his foot in the ground, and he tears his knee up. So it is just so disappointing.”

“He had surgery today – successful surgery,” Kelly noted.

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As for Emery, Kelly said his reaction was about what you’d think. He knew what had happened the moment that it did despite their collective hope that it wasn’t what they all feared. Since it was, though, it became a bottom moment for him and his team.

“How do you think? I mean, devastated,” said Kelly.

“You know, obviously, we’re holding out hope, you know, but he knew in his heart because he has been through it before, right? You know, we were hoping that, you know, it was just a strain. We were hoping that it wasn’t, you know, what we thought it might be,” Kelly continued. “He was devastated. So, you know, we just, again – I can tell you that it was a low point for all of the coaches and everybody surrounding him because it just didn’t seem fair.”

Kelly had just started his sixth season with the Tigers. He has been with the program since 2019 when they went undefeated in winning the national title. In that time, he has posted 1,453 yards from scrimmage while scoring 16 total touchdowns. 1,123 of those were in rushing at five yards a carry,

In the 27-20 opening loss to USC last weekend in Las Vegas, Emery ran for 61 yards on 10 attempts. He also caught a pass for 10 more yards.

Now, with him unfortunately lost again, LSU has to consider their options at the position.

“You know, we feel pretty good right now where we’re at in terms of the running back position,” Kelly said.

This was a brutal loss both for this specific player as well as his team to endure. All the Tigers can do now, though, is support Emery as best as they can moving forward.

“It was so disappointing and we feel so bad for him and his family,” said Kelly.”

“John has overcome so much,” Kelly added. “So proud of what he has accomplished in getting his degree from LSU. He’s going to be successful in life and, you know, we’ll see what the future holds for him.”