LSU’s Jalen Mills out 4-6 weeks after leg injury

Mills suffered a fractured fibula in practice Wednesday morning and is expected to miss 4-6 weeks, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune. The extent of the injury isn’t known, but Kisa Mills, Jalen’s mother, said her son won’t need surgery and classified the injury as a “sprain”. He has played in 39 games, starting every one, and was the team’s leading tackler last season.

Not only did the LSU secondary boast the number one passing defense in the conference but the unit managed to rank fourth in the nation in passing yards allowed with an average of 162.3 yards per game.

Rickey Jefferson will get the first chance at replacing Mills until he is recovered from the injury. The short end of that timeline would have him missing the 2015 opener against McNeese State and the SEC opener the following weekend at Mississippi State; the long end could see the senior miss the following two weeks against Auburn and at Syracuse as well. That took some doing because like so many other college players, Mills has had some off-the-field issues, and he had spent much of the offseason between the 2013 and 2014 seasons regaining the trust of his coaches and teammates.

Few schools produce top-flight pass defenders like a DB Pez dispenser better than LSU. Junior cornerback Tre’Davious White, who has first-round talent, is also back for his third year as a starter.