It’s been a busy last few weeks for this LSU football program. While the Tigers continue hitting the recruiting trail with force, they’ve also had to monitor the status of starting quarterback Jayden Daniels.
Daniels, who suffered an ankle injury in the SEC Championship Game, has been rehabbing for the last two weeks in hopes of playing in the Citrus Bowl.
LSU’s QB1 is currently on track to suit up on Jan. 2 in Orlando.
“He looked really good today,” Head Coach Brian Kelly said on Saturday. “He’s been limited, but today was his last test… Today he went through that progression. If we were playing tomorrow he’d be ready to play.”
“Yeah, he looked really good today,” Kelly said. “He’s been limited, but today was kind of his last test. One of the things we like to do is put the quarterback in direct snap, so he’s pushing off and driving back. When you’re in shotgun, you shuffle your feet, and you throw, and that’s how you can get him back quickly when you’re in shotgun. You put him in direct snap, and he’s got to drive and use his weight and transfer and a seven-step drop and then step up and move, you know you’re ready.
“Today he went through that progression. I would say, well today is Saturday, if we were playing tomorrow, he’d be ready to play.”
Daniels returned from the Tigers’ 2022 SEC Championship Game defeat to Georgia with a nagging ankle injury. Kelly noted after the contest that Daniels suffered the ailment in the second quarter when “he got rolled up on,” and it was also a “reinjury,” as the versatile quarterback sustained an ankle injury in LSU’s regular season loss to Texas A&M.
“It was second quarter, when he stepped up in the pocket, he got rolled up on,” Kelly said after the SEC title game. “It was a reinjury, reinjured the ankle that had been injured.
