BATON ROUGE — LSU returned to the win column Saturday with a dominant 35-6 victory over Texas A&M, but now the Tigers' focus shifts to this weekend's matchup and addressing several significant injuries.

Head coach Lane Kiffin discussed those injuries Monday as No. 11 LSU prepares to host the McNeese Cowboys on Saturday in Death Valley.

Linebacker Whit Weeks underwent a procedure Monday after suffering an injury against the Aggies. While Kiffin did not provide a specific timeline for his return, he expects Weeks to be sidelined for an extended period.

"I just know he'll be out a while, and that's a tough one," Kiffin said. "It's not just because of the player that he is. It's the mentality and what he brings around him."

Kiffin said the Tigers also lost another linebacker, Charles Ross II, for the season against Texas A&M, leaving LSU thin at the position. That will create a bigger opportunity for Davhon Keys, who Kiffin praised for his performance after being called upon Saturday.

"Devon played really well last week, which was obviously great to see," Kiffin said. "We're going to need him to play really well. Obviously, Whit's a huge loss in a lot of areas, so he's going to need to play really well for us not to have a drop-off on defense."

LSU is also adjusting in the secondary following the loss of safety Dashawn Spears. Ty Benefield moved to the STAR position against Texas A&M, a change Kiffin said allowed the Tigers to maintain much of their defensive scheme.

"Ty can do a lot of things. Really versatile player. Really unique," Kiffin said. "That move, at least for last week, allowed us to be able to not have to call much different in our defense."

The injuries have Kiffin considering how LSU approaches Saturday's nonconference matchup, especially with seven SEC games still remaining on the schedule.

Quarterback Sam Leavitt is among the players LSU could handle cautiously after he played through a hamstring injury against Texas A&M. When asked how cautious LSU will be with Leavitt this week, Kiffin didn't hesitate.

"Extremely," Kiffin said. "I'm human. With what's happened with these freak injuries, it's tough." He continued, "We'll be extremely cautious this week all around because it's just the schedule you play with."

Kiffin said he has even considered holding some players out entirely against McNeese, although no decisions have been made.

"I've been going through that all day yesterday. I don't know where we're going to end up on that," Kiffin said. "We got seven conference games to go."

Leavitt played through the injury Saturday and helped LSU's passing game take a step forward, as both Jackson Harris and Winston Watkins Jr. surpassed 100 receiving yards against the Aggies. Kiffin said that Leavitt's injury may have actually forced his quarterback to trust his receivers and deliver the ball on time.

"If I know I can't run, I told him, 'You now are like the old-school pro-style passer that knew he couldn't run,'" Kiffin said. "He better throw it on time, or he's going to get sacked."

LSU enters Saturday's matchup 3-1 on the season. The Tigers will host McNeese at 6:45 p.m. in Death Valley, with the game airing on SEC Network.

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