LSU coach Lane Kiffin said Thursday that he is standing by his initial stance on allowing cornerback D.J. Pickett to wear the No. 5 jersey previously worn by 2023 Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels — even in the face of objections and legal threats from the former Tigers quarterback.
“I commented a week ago on that,” Kiffin said after practice in Baton Rouge. “That's the comment that I had and we're moving forward.”
LSU's official online store has removed replica Daniels jerseys from the menu of those for sale, which include the No. 9 of 2019 Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow and the No. 3 of former star receiver Odell Beckham Jr.
Meanwhile, Pickett showed no interest in relinquishing the No. 5 when he spoke with reporters after Thursday's practice.
“I’ve been wearing the number my whole life, since I was 4 years old,” Pickett said. “That was the number I was promised. I wish Jayden the best. Good player — he did real good here.”
Daniels, drafted second overall by the Washington Commanders in 2024, said in a social media post on Thursday that the matter would not affect his preparation for the NFL season.
“I have been locked in on training camp and that has been my No. 1 focus,” Daniels said in the post. “I have a lot of gratitude for my time at LSU and I'm proud of what my teammates and I accomplished there.
“Obviously there are issues to get worked out” with LSU, Daniels continued. “My hope is that it will get done privately. ... I realize the business of football is unique and I trust that this can all be resolved.”
Daniels' statement came in the wake of reports about a letter in which his Miami-based attorney, Adam Kenner, demanded that LSU no longer use his client's name, image or likeness to promote the university or its athletic programs.
Pickett wore a No. 3 jersey as a freshman last year but was wearing No. 5 when August camp opened last week. The 6-foot-5 cornerback is a former five-star recruit who had three interceptions in 2025.
Kiffin said last week that Pickett was promised the opportunity to wear No. 5 when he signed with LSU in December 2024, when Brian Kelly was coaching the Tigers. Kelly was fired in October 2025, and Kiffin was hired at the end of the regular season.
“When a kid’s promised something to come to a school, he should wear it,” Kiffin said during an Aug. 5 media session. “So at that point, I don’t think it’s really my decision. We should honor what he was told.”
Pickett is the first player to wear No. 5 since Daniels left LSU. Under LSU policy, the only number football players cannot wear is No. 20, worn by the late Billy Cannon, who was the Tigers' first Heisman winner in 1959.
Top LSU officials, including Athletic Director Verge Ausberry, have declined to comment on the matter.
A number of images of Daniels that are on display at LSU would be considered in the public domain, and not subject to any contractual agreements between the university and the quarterback. But LSU has in the past featured Daniels in promotional videos shown in Tiger Stadium or and elsewhere, and it remains to be seen whether LSU might edit some of those out should the dispute become protracted.
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Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels works out before a joint practice with the Miami Dolphins at NFL football training camp, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 in Ashburn, Va. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — The Chicago Bears have at least one viable site for a stadium in northwest Indiana and they are examining a second location as they move closer to finalizing a place for their new home.
The Bears announced in June that they were moving forward with a stadium development project in Hammond, Indiana. They have completed their review of what they are calling the Lost Marsh site, and they are doing their due diligence on the Wolf Lake Terminal site. They could merge the two options together in some way.
“Even though we’ve had occasional meetings with the state of Illinois, our sole focus at this point in time is working on a world-class stadium and mixed-use development in Hammond, Indiana,” team President Kevin Warren said Thursday.
The Bears also had been considering Arlington Heights — about 30 miles northwest of Chicago — as a potential location for an enclosed stadium. Wherever they end up, a name change is off the table.
“We will be the Chicago Bears whether we’re in Arlington or whether we’re in Hammond,” chairman George McCaskey said.
The Bears, a charter NFL franchise, have played in Illinois since the team’s founding in 1920 as the Decatur Staleys. They moved to Chicago in 1921 and called Wrigley Field home before they started playing at Soldier Field in September 1971.
The Bears’ lease runs through 2033, but they can pay a fee to break the lease early. Soldier Field is about 40 miles south of Halas Hall — the team’s headquarters in Lake Forest — and Hammond is about 20 miles south of the team’s lakefront stadium.
McCaskey acknowledged the “anxiety” of a move to northwest Indiana for the team's fans.
“But when I’ve driven that route, other than a sign telling me so, I wouldn’t know that I’ve just crossed the state border,” he said. “And as Kevin said, once people see the building, once they get in there, once they understand that our top priority from day one was a world-class stadium experience, we think we’ll make that adjustment. We think Bears fans are up for that.”
The Bears ramped up their focus on Indiana after a proposal to provide financial incentives for the team to build its new home in Illinois stalled in the state legislature. A committee in the Indiana House of Representatives passed a bill in February that established a Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority to finance, construct and lease a stadium.
The Illinois Senate passed a bill that would have cleared the way for Arlington Heights and Chicago to create local stadium authorities, creating a pathway for the Bears to avoid paying property taxes on a new stadium. But the House adjourned without taking up the measure on the last day of the state’s spring legislative session.
McCaskey said the team has had minimal conversations with Illinois legislators since June. Asked if he was hopeful about Illinois coming up with a plan and building in Arlington Heights, McCaskey demurred.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell “has said to us many times in league meetings, ‘Hope is not a strategy,’” McCaskey said. “We have to deal with the here and now. We have to deal with real circumstances, and these are the real circumstances.”
Speaking before McCaskey and Warren held their news conference, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said his office has been in contact with the team.
“We’re working hard to make sure that there’s an opportunity for the Bears to stay in the state of Illinois, whether it’s in Chicago or in Arlington Heights,” Pritzker said.
“I also want, at the same time, to protect the fans and the taxpayers of the state. So we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that that happens.”
The Bears have been pursuing a new home for years, but the process has been hampered by repeated twists and turns.
The team announced in September 2021 that it had signed a purchase agreement for 326 acres of land in Arlington Heights. The $197 million deal with Churchill Downs Inc. was finalized in 2023.
In September 2022, the team unveiled a nearly $5 billion plan for Arlington Heights that called for an enclosed stadium that could host Super Bowls and Final Fours. The conceptual illustrations also provided for a year-round entertainment district with restaurants and shopping.
But the Bears shifted their focus toward building a new stadium next to Soldier Field after Warren was hired as team president in January 2023, replacing the retiring Ted Phillips. The plan to transform Chicago’s Museum Campus got an enthusiastic endorsement from Mayor Brandon Johnson and a tepid reception from Pritzker and state legislators when it was announced in April 2024.
The team switched gears again in May 2025, announcing it had made “significant progress” with local leaders in Arlington Heights.
Amid lingering efforts to secure tax incentives in Illinois, along with as much as $855 million in public money for infrastructure at the Arlington Heights site, the Bears began to take a closer look at possible options in northwest Indiana.
“We’re in regular, almost daily communication with the state of Indiana working on this,” Warren said. “We have an excellent deal, a win-win partnership together. And the cost of the significance of this decision from a stadium standpoint, we will make sure that we take our time to get this right.”
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Chicago Bears Chairman George McCaskey leaves after a news conference Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Lake Forest, Ill. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren leaves after a news conference Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Lake Forest, Ill. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren addresses the team's ongoing stadium plans during a news conference Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Lake Forest, Ill. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago Bears Chairman George McCaskey addresses the team's ongoing stadium plans during a news conference Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Lake Forest, Ill. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren addresses the team's ongoing stadium plans during a news conference Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Lake Forest, Ill. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago Bears Chairman George McCaskey addresses the team's ongoing stadium plans during a news conference Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Lake Forest, Ill. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren addresses the team's ongoing stadium plans during a news conference Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Lake Forest, Ill. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
