LSU sophomore quarterback Jordan Jefferson practiced Wednesday for the first time since suffering an ankle injury in LSU’s 24-15 loss to Alabama, coach Les Miles said Wednesday.”Jefferson took snaps and took throws,” Miles said. “He’s a little gimped but getting better.”Miles said sophomore quarterback Jarrett Lee took more snaps than Jefferson on Wednesday, but he said he “feels good” about Jefferson’s chance to play Saturday against Louisiana Tech.Senior tight end Richard Dickson did not play against Alabama. Miles said Dickson suffered a thigh contusion two weeks ago.”Dickson did not practice [Wednesday],” Miles said. “We’ll look at him tomorrow and thereafter; he’s so integral and comfortable with our stuff when he steps onto the field.”LSU’s injuries in the Alabama game extended to the secondary, as sophomore cornerback Patrick Peterson and junior cornerback Jai Eugene both left the game at times.”Jai Eugene practiced, and we’ll plan on having him on Saturday,” Miles said. “All Peterson had to do was get some fluids in him.”Miles said four players will shoulder the load at running back in light of senior Charles Scott’s season-ending fractured collarbone — seniors Keiland Williams and Trindon Holliday, sophomore Stevan Ridley and freshman Russell Shepard.Shepard leads the group in rushing this season with 31 carries for 224 yards — 12 more yards than Williams, who did not have a carry Saturday.Miles also did not rule out Shepard’s chances of taking snaps at quarterback Saturday.”[Shepard] will play some quarterback possibly as well, and he has,” Miles said.Miles said even with the number of injuries they endured Saturday, the Tigers have been in good spirits this week.”The guys we’re counting on to step in for the fray understand they need to accomplish the game plan with more urgency,” Miles said. “Let’s go see if we can be a great team.”With its second loss of the season last weekend, LSU is now No. 9 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and No. 8 in the BCS standings.”In the history of LSU, if you said you had the opportunity to be ranked in the top five in the country four of the last five years, that would be a pretty strong showing,” he said. “I’d like to think if we took care of business and went through our opponents one at a time, we might approach that.”In 2008, LSU dropped two of its final three games to Ole Miss and Arkansas after losing in overtime to Alabama at home. Miles said there has never been any mention of last year’s finish in the final stretch this season.”It’s a completely different team, and I don’t even know if there’s a parallel,” Miles said. “It’s time to move on. It’s speculative talk that turns their attention to something I don’t want to look at.”- – – -Contact Rachel Whittaker at [email protected]