LSU Country

Brian Kelly Pumps the Brakes on Harold Perkins' Future with the LSU Football Program

Perkins will miss the remainder of the 2024 season after suffering a torn ACL, Kelly talks about his future with the program.

Zack Nagy

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LSU linebacker Harold Perkins will miss the remainder of the 2024 season after suffering a season-ending knee injury on Saturday against UCLA, Brian Kelly confirmed on Monday.

Perkins suffered what is believed to be a torn ACL and will now begin evaluating options for surgery in the coming days.

Kelly discussed the impact of losing Perkins and his emotions for him following the announcement of his season-ending knee injury.

“It’s an injury we feel terrible about, especially for Harold and the work he has done to put himself in a great position,” Kelly said. “You lose players all the time, and you just feel terrible for them individually because of all the work and time they have put in.”

Now, attention will shift to Perkins' future in Baton Rouge. Will he come back to LSU in 2025 for his senior campaign or bypass his final year with the program and declare for the 2025 NFL Draft?

He's been rated as high as the No. 2 linebacker prospect with several NFL organizations salivating at the ceiling he attains.

“It’s way too soon for him or his family to have made any kind of declaration on whether this is his last game or not,” Kelly said. “I think they are just trying to get hold of the surgery and the rehab associated with it. He will take all that into consideration. And when it’s time to make a decision, he will make a decision. Certainly he has plenty of time before he has to make that decision.”

Kelly pumped the brakes on Perkins' future given it's been a relatively small sample size in the purple and gold.

“It’s been two seasons and four games, so it’s not even three (seasons),” Kelly said of Perkins’ time spent playing at LSU. “I think it’s really too soon for us to get into any of the ‘what happens if this is his last season’. It’s two seasons and four games, and we would be rushing any type of comments relative to whether this was his last season or not. We would tap the brakes on that.”

Perkins will evaluate options before having knee surgery in the coming days with the star linebacker slated to miss the remainder of the year for LSU.

More LSU News:

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What's Next for LSU Without Harold Perkins?

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Zack Nagy

ZACK NAGY

Zack Nagy is the Managing Editor and Publisher of LSU Country, a Sports Illustrated Publication. Nagy has covered Tiger Football, Basketball, Baseball and Recruiting, looking to keep readers updated on anything and everything involving LSU athletics. 

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