LSU coach Les Miles confirmed the playing status of several defensive players as he addressed the media Wednesday evening for his final press conference before the No. 6 Tigers battle Auburn on Saturday.
Miles has a number of issues on his plate heading into the squad’s first Southeastern Conference matchup, including the injuries of two primary defensive contributors.
Sophomore defensive tackle Quentin Thomas and senior safety Craig Loston have both been dealing with injuries of late, but both will be available and ready to go when the team takes the field Saturday.
But one player, freshman defensive back Jeryl Brazil, may have to wait a bit before seeing any snaps.
Brazil was involved in an altercation last week at the loading dock of The 5 dining hall on campus, leading to an eventual misdemeanor summons given to the athlete on Sept. 11.
Miles would not confirm or deny if Brazil was suspended during last week’s Kent St. game, where Brazil failed to play a snap. His status for the Auburn game is currently unknown.
“We handle all that stuff internally,” Miles said. “It’s not something we need to discuss.”
Meanwhile, Miles said he isn’t worried about the potential of playing in the rain Saturday evening. The current forecast calls for a 70 percent chance of rain in Baton Rouge this weekend.
The squad will be prepared regardless of the weather.
“When you’re in Louisiana, you work with wet balls a lot,” Miles said. “We’re familiar with that. We’re not necessarily comfortable in the rain, but we know how to operate.”
Even with the chance for showers, Miles is expecting to hear an electric crowd in Tiger Stadium when LSU takes the field. After three weeks of non-conference contests, including one game in Dallas, LSU fans will be ready to crowd the seats for the first SEC game of the season.
“We would encourage and would enjoy a crowd that was naturally passionate for their Tigers and would raise the decibel levels so that the opponent would have all difficulty in the ability to communicate,” Miles said. “We would like it to be rocking.”
LSU has prepared all week for the potent Auburn offense, which averages 440.3 yards per game, ranking them eighth in the conference.
Miles said he wants to use substitutions to be effective on defense.
“We anticipate that we’ll have a rotation,” Miles said. “The interesting piece about [the Auburn] offense is the ability to substitute has to coincide with the offense’s ability to substitute. When they substitute, we will substitute. When they don’t, we’ll be good on the field.”