Ed Ingram suspended indefinitely, LSU coach Ed Orgeron says

The LSU offensive line took a notable blow to open fall camp, coach Ed Orgeron announced Friday.

Sophomore guard Ed Ingram, one of the Tigers' more experienced returning starters has been suspended indefinitely, Orgeron told media in his opening press conference of season.

"He will not be with us in camp," the head coach said, later adding, "It's a violation of team policy. We have a policy set in place at the university. He broke that policy, so we'll just see what happens."

Ingram was slated as the starting right guard after starting the final 12 contests in 2017 and playing in all 13 contests as a true freshman.

The absence of the 6-foot-4, 314-pound standout throws an immediate curveball into the plans for a unit already in flux after the departures of Will Clapp, K.J. Malone and Toby Weathersby.

Six-foot-3, 326-pound junior Damien Lewis, a transfer from Northwest Mississippi Community College will take over as the leader for that position, and the Tigers will place 6-foot-3, 347-pound true freshman Chasen Hines, from Marshall, Texas, to left guard to back up Brumfield at the onset of camp.

"It will be interesting to see our offensive line gel together now that Ed is not there," Orgeron said. "We'll move Damien Lewis to right guard. I just talked to Chasen Hines, who's done a tremendous job losing weight. He's been an outstanding defensive lineman. And we're gonna move him to the left guard position behind Garrett Brumfield to give us more depth. So we'll be fine there. We should be in good shape. We won't blink."

The interior of the offensive line was already a position to watch for the Tigers this fall camp with Brumfield, Lewis and 6-foot-4, 316-pound sophomore center Lloyd Cushenberry battling for the two spots alongside Ingram.

"It's an unfortunate circumstance, obviously for any one of our team members," Orgeron said. "But we're real excited about Damien, and we feel that he is a very good football player and eventually I think he would've earned a spot anyway in the starting lineup — whatever that combination would've been."

Orgeron went on to call upon entire offensive line to raise their level of play as LSU looks for more depth from the key unit than its enjoyed under his tenure thus far — even in the wake of Friday's news.

"Saahdiq Charles has got to step up," the coach said. "If he's gonna be our starting left tackle, he's gotta be the bellcow. He's gotta answer the bell. We can't chip a back. We've gotta be able to block the No. 1 rusher, and he's gotta be able to win his one-on-one.

"Badara Traore, we've got to be able to play him. He's exciting. He's the backup left tackle. Lloyd Cushenberry, he's gotta come. He has not started yet. He has got to come. Donovaughn Campbell. Donovaughn had one of his best springs last year. Donovaughn has the ability to be a great offensive lineman. He just has to be more consistent. And then the right tackle, Adrian Magee and Austin Deculus... Adrian, he was up there today all fired up. We have to get two-deep so we can play throughout the season. So this is gonna be a physical camp. These guys have to prove they can do it in camp because they're gonna go up against some of the best defensive linemen in the country."