What He Said: LSU Football's Brian Kelly Provides Update on QB Garrett Nussmeier

Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers continue working through Fall Camp in Baton Rouge with the program back on the practice fields on Friday morning.

Following a two-hour practice, Kelly addressed the media to address the reports surrounding LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier and a "serious injury" he had sustained.

Kelly silenced the rumor mill by breaking down what his franchise signal-caller is dealing with.

Nussmeier has patellar tendonitis and will be back at practice on Saturday.

“Just for the record, he has patella tendonitis. He does not have a torn ACL. We have not amputated his leg. He has a PO, and you know the initials of that, patella tendon. He was out there today throwing; tomorrow he’ll likely be back in a practice situation," Kelly said on Friday.

"A lot of this stems from his 2023 Osgood-Schlatter surgery, when the tendon was irritated. This is just a chronic condition, we’ll calm it down and everything will be fine. No long-term effects. It’s tendonitis, and it’s managed every single day.

"He’ll be back out there, just like coming back from a bad ankle. He practiced today and will again tomorrow. I think he just planted wrong, and when you have a pre-existing condition like this, it’s easy to aggravate. That’s what happened — tendonitis in the patella.

"It’s the patella tendon — not torn, no fraying. This was a pre-existing issue, and he probably just planted wrong. There’s nothing on film, but it aggravated the tendon. He’ll be fine. We’ll let it calm down, maybe use a Medrol pack to reduce inflammation. On a scale of 1 to 10, this is about a 1.5.”

News: #LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier did not suffer a “major injury,” according to Brian Kelly.

Nussmeier is dealing with patellar tendinitis in his knee.

Kelly: “This is a chronic situation. It's tendinitis. It's like a bad ankle. He just planted the wrong way.” pic.twitter.com/S111UfIkre
— Zack Nagy (@znagy20) August 8, 2025

Nussmeier has impressed during Fall Camp to this point where he continues progressing as a quarterback for the program.

“He’s learning from last year,” Kelly said. “He had chances to run and didn’t always take them. He now understands that quarterbacking isn’t just about standing still and throwing.

"He’s athletic enough, and we’ve coached him to take those five or six runs a game when it helps. It makes him more effective overall.”

Now, it's about taking the precautionary approach when monitoring Nussmeier's patellar tendonitis with the 2025 season inching closer.

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