Lane Kiffin Explains Why He Put Defensive Starters Back In, Pulled Trey'Dez Green Early

During his Sunday Zoom call with reporters, LSU head coach Lane Kiffin explained two of his coaching decisions from Saturday's 38-17 win over Auburn, including why he pulled tight end Trey'Dez Green early and why he allowed some defensive starters to return to the game late.

Kiffin revealed that Green is still not fully healthy after returning from his injury, and they were worried about they way he was getting tacked in the game.

"He's not 100%, as you can see. He's still kind of limping and pushing through," Kiffin said.

"And fortunately, he didn't get hurt worse when they were trying to hip-drop tackle him. So that was unfortunate, and he was really concerned about that. And so we actually took him out."

Kiffin was also asked why he decided to put some of his defensive starters back into the game late, despite LSU being in control.

"I probably shouldn't have," Kiffin admitted.

"There were a couple right behind me that were getting pissed at our backups letting them go down the field. And so they asked me. They really wanted to have a second-half shutout. And so I let them go back in, knowing that we had a bye the next week. But maybe I shouldn't have."

Despite the risk, Kiffin said he appreciated the competitive mentality of his players.

"But I like the mentality of the guys. I mean, that's how we're gonna try to build a highly competitive program. That guys want to think that way. They want to get back in there. They want to play. They want to preserve good defensive days like that."

LSU enters its bye week before hosting Alabama on November 7.