The hits keep coming for LSU. On Wednesday Tigers coach Ed Orgeron revealed that star cornerback Elias Ricks will be out for the season with a shoulder injury.
It's an absolutely crushing blow for the purple and gold to lose Ricks as the Tigers secondary keeps getting hit with massive injuries. Cornerback Derek Stingley, safety Jay Ward, safety Major Burns and Ricks have all missed time this year and will all be out for the forseeable future.
An All-American as a freshman, Ricks and Stingley were to return as the top cornerback duo in the country but were only able to share the field for three games in the 2021 season.
"It's a sustaining injury that kept coming back," Orgeron said. "His family decided to get it operated on. I think he's going to get it fixed very soon. He kept on playing with it and it kept on recurring."
Stingley is currently rehabbing an injury that he reaggrevated during practice right ahead of SEC play while Burns and Ward both went out during the Tigers' loss to Kentucky. On top of the injuries in the secondary, LSU is without edge rusher Andre Anthony for the season and Ali Gaye also went down against the Wildcats.
"It does make it tough but next man up," Orgeron said. "Somebody's gotta rise up to the occasion, we've lost several players especially starters on defense. We've got some young guys who will have to step up."
Moving forward, LSU will slip Cordale Flott to the outside cornerback opposite Dwight McGlothern. The team will also move freshman Sage Ryan to nickel cornerback but there are a number of combinations the team will use this weekend.
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