Jefferson Still Hopes to Start for LSU at LinesMaker.com

Jefferson Still Hopes to Start for LSU

BATON ROUGE, La. —Jor­dan Jef­fer­son says his goal remains to be LSU’s start­ing quar­ter­back and that he has learned a lot from his recent arrest and four-game sus­pen­sion that stemmed from an August bar fight.

“My per­sonal goal is to be the starter,” said Jef­fer­son, who was per­mit­ted by LSU to speak to reporters Mon­day night for the first time since the Aug. 19 fight. “I am going to do what­ever it takes to get there.”

Jef­fer­son was rein­stated last Wednes­day after a grand jury reduced his felony second-degree bat­tery charge to a mis­de­meanor. He then played in last Saturday’s home game against Ken­tucky, scor­ing a touch­down on a 1-yard, fourth-down sneak.

“I was pos­i­tive I was going to play at LSU again,” Jef­fer­son said. “This was a tough expe­ri­ence for me. Sit­ting there watch­ing the guys play all these tough games was the hard­est thing I’ve done in my life. They did a great job.

“This was a learn­ing expe­ri­ence for me. I can’t imag­ine any­body in the coun­try going through more than I did. But, I’m now wiser and more aware. God puts peo­ple in cer­tain sit­u­a­tions. I don’t regret any­thing. Every­thing hap­pened for a rea­son. I’ve learned a lot from this.”

With Jef­fer­son unavail­able for LSU’s first four games, fifth-year senior Jar­rett Lee took over as starter and has helped lead the Tigers to a 5–0 start and No. 1 ranking.

Jef­fer­son said he felt that his celebrity sta­tus was a fac­tor in his arrest.

“You never know how pop­u­lar you are until sit­u­a­tions like this,” he said. “I was just try­ing to go out and be a col­lege stu­dent that night. I was enjoy­ing myself with my team­mates. A cer­tain sit­u­a­tion turned up. The posi­tion you play for the foot­ball team can cost you a lot and put you in trouble.”

Jef­fer­son said tak­ing a red­shirt this year, so he could have a full year of eli­gi­bil­ity in 2012, crossed his mind. How­ever, he decided against sit­ting out the season.

“I would have red­shirted if I thought I’d miss seven or eight games. But, I only missed four games,” he said. “There is a lot of time left in the season.”

Jef­fer­son said he is con­fi­dent he can be pro­duc­tive for the Tigers, who host No. 17 Florida on Sat­ur­day afternoon.

“I don’t feel like I’m behind,” Jef­fer­son said. “I’ve been work­ing out a lot. I’ve been in the tough­est bat­tles there are. I have a 20–7 record which is very high for a quar­ter­back at LSU. I’ve been lead­ing LSU for three years. When coach (Les) Miles puts me in, I can help this team win.”

Jef­fer­son said he under­stands he made a poor deci­sion on the night of the fight by remain­ing in the park­ing lot of Shady’s bar, near cam­pus, as the melee erupted.

“I have to accept respon­si­bil­ity for being there,” Jef­fer­son said. “I know I shouldn’t have been there, but every­thing hap­pens for a rea­son. I’m a lot wiser.

“I received a lot of sup­port from dif­fer­ent areas. Coach Miles and the team were behind me 100 per­cent when it was needed. When I get the oppor­tu­nity to get back on the field, I’ll do what it takes for us to win.”

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