LSU Coach Ed Orgeron 'Unsure' if Grant Delpit Will Play vs Arkansas, Talks Michael Divinity's Return
LSU coach Ed Orgeron said during Wednesday's SEC teleconference he is 'unsure' if junior safety Grant Delpit will be able to suit up against Arkansas on Saturday.
Delpit has been battling an ankle injury which Orgeron said Monday has limited his mobility when on the field, part of the reason the junior struggled so much against Ole Miss last weekend.
With Delpit potentially out, LSU is now razor thin at safety as the regular season draws to a close.
Lost in some of the secondary struggles was the season-ending injury to safety Todd Harris, who Orgeron called "one of the best players" on Wednesday. Harris suffered a knee injury against Northwestern State and the depth at safety has taken a hit ever since.
"It's hurt us, first of all Todd was one of our best players," Orgeron said. "Now our freshmen corners have to play safety especially with Grant Delpit's injury so it's limited us to some of the things we want to do on defense and put some guys back there that don't have a lot of experience."
With potentially the loss of Delpit this weekend, LSU will be in scramble mode to patch up the back half of the secondary, sliding freshman cornerback Cordale Flott to safety.
Senior tight end Thaddeus Moss and freshman running back Tyrion Davis-Price have also missed practice this week but Orgeron said he is more positive on their outlook's to play against the Razorbacks.
"I think those guys are going to be able to play this week, I haven't talked to Jack [Marucci] yet," Orgeron said. "They obviously didn't practice yesterday, I don't know if they'll practice today but I think they'll be game ready."
One of the surprising revelations in practice this week was the return of senior linebacker Michael Divinity. Divinity was suspended indefinitely from the team right before the game with Alabama. Orgeron said there is no firm timetable on a return to the field for the senior but said he won't be eligible to play until at least a potential national championship game.
"I think the eligibility would come towards after a bowl, if there'd be another bowl, if there'd be a championship game maybe he'd be eligible for that," Orgeron said. "Mike's back with the team which we're happy about. We keep all that stuff in house but it will be a while until he is able to play."
