BATON ROUGE, La. -- LSU football coach Les Miles on Monday said running back Leonard Fournette has had "no issue" since suffering a slight ankle sprain and has "practiced extremely well" as the No. 5 Tigers prepare for their opener this weekend against Wisconsin.
"I'm good," Fournette said of the injury, which happened two weeks ago. "It was nothing too serious. It happens in football. ... I'm 100 percent."
The junior will see his share of carries this season, although Miles said he could live with a lessened workload for the Heisman Trophy candidate after Fournette rushed for 1,953 yards and 22 touchdowns on 300 carries last season.
"We're not going to keep him on the field when he's tired, no matter what," Miles said.
When asked if he wants as many carries as he can get, Fournette said: "It doesn't matter. My main goal is to win the national championship."
Miles envisions an offense that is more dynamic in the passing game and less reliant on Fournette this season, but he also expects that approach to benefit his star running back by making defenses less inclined to crowd the middle of the field and close to the line of scrimmage.
"Balance is a way to remove people from the box and allow us bigger plays," Miles said. "So if we can do the job that we have planned to do throwing the football, then I think you will find that there will be less people in the box, and then maybe more productivity out of less carries."
LSU also is stocked with backfield depth, including sophomore Derrius Guice and junior Darrel Williams. They should be able to help LSU maintain a formidable ground game even when Fournette isn't on field.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.