LSU coach Ed Orgeron welcomed more than Baton Rouge’s local media to watch LSU’s “Competition Tuesday” practice.
Professional scouts from 15 NFL teams and one Canadian Football League team were on hand to view LSU’s practice on Tuesday.
“Competition Tuesday” is Orgeron’s nickname for the mid-week practice for the Tigers. LSU’s offensive and defensive players worked on individual drill, competing against one another for the bulk of the time allotted for the media to view practice.
“Compete baby, compete!” Orgeron belted out as the athletes ran between drills.
Offense
Preparation for Southern Mississippi (4-2, 2-1 Conference USA) continued with the Tigers experimenting with new offensive line rotations, similar to its redesigned formation LSU practiced last week and Monday.
The Tigers continued to practice their reshuffled offensive line because of injuries to sophomore right tackle Toby Weathersby (ankle) and sophomore left guard Will Clapp (shoulder). Junior center Andy Dodd practiced again as the starting center for the second straight day as senior center Ethan Pocic split out at right tackle.
Sophomore guards Garrett “Bruiser” Brumfield and Josh Boutte rotated work with the first-team going head-to-head in drills against LSU defensive lineman.
Sophomore tight end Foster Moreau missed practice for the second-straight day this week with an unspecified injury.
Junior running back Leonard Fournette, who is dealing with an ankle sprain, also did not practice. Orgeron said Fournette was “questionable” on Monday. If Fournette is absent for the second week in a row, sophomore running back Derrius Guice will likely start in place of Fournette versus Southern Miss.
Defense
A notable face on defense returned to practice.
Senior outside Corey Thompson practiced for the first time since early August, when he suffered a knee injury during fall practice.
At his press conference on Monday, Orgeron said Thompson was likely to return to action this season, but did not specify when Thompson’s earliest appearance will be.
“He will be ready to play this year. He’s not ready to play yet,” Orgeron said. “We’re going to do more things with him right now … Obviously, before Corey got hurt, his outside linebacker position was a position that fit him. He has a lot of speed, he has a lot of coverage ability, he plays outfield linebacker, he’s an excellent pass rusher, we could surely use him.”
Thompson converted from safety to outside linebacker in the spring and was expected to battle for a starting role in defensive coordinator Dave Aranda’s new defensive scheme.
Freshman cornerback Saivion Smith was dressed in pads and wore a non-contact jersey on Monday’s practice. Smith has contributed mostly to special teams this season.
