BATON ROUGE — What does it mean for LSU football' s defense to have a healthy Harold Perkins Jr. and Whit Weeks back in the fold?
The linebacker duo took the field for the Tigers ' first preseason practice Wednesday morning, the first time the two have practiced alongside one another in nearly a year.
"Presence," LSU coach Brian Kelly said following LSU 's practice about having Weeks and Perkins back. "We all appreciate that it's Day 1 and we're trying to get our feet in the ground and play football, but presence is impactful.
LSU FOOTBALL LINEBACKER PRESEASON PREVIEW
"We see them, you feel them, you hear them."
In September, Perkins went down against UCLA in LSU's fourth game last season with an ACL tear and missed the remainder of the 2024 campaign. His injury forced Weeks into more of a prominent role within the Tigers' defense and he flourished, leading the team in tackles and clearing the next defender by nearly 40 stops.
In the Texas Bowl in December, Weeks suffered a dislocated ankle, which needed surgery to repair.
Both Perkins and Weeks missed spring practice and some more time this offseason going through rehab, but they have arrived at preseason practice fully healthy. The tandem were both named to the Dick Butkus Award preseason watch list Wednesday, an award that goes to college football's top linebacker.
"When somebody is not around in a room, you can kind of feel the temperature change a little bit. The temperature is a little bit different when those two guys are in the room," Kelly said.
"It's hard to replace great players but it's even harder to replace great leaders and those guys lead by example and make a huge difference."
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com .
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: How LSU LBs Harold Perkins Jr., Whit Weeks looked during first practice
