This story was updated to correct a misspelling.

BATON ROUGE — Usually when off weeks arrive in the middle of the season, football teams generally use those to get more rest than during a normal game week and more time to recover from the rigors of the season.

The college football calendar has two off weeks baked into it in 2024 and with that in mind, LSU football has decided to use its first week without a game the same as the first five weeks with games.

"We were in full pads today," LSU coach Brian Kelly told reporters following the team's practice Tuesday afternoon. "We went just under two hours, it was physical.

"We're not at a point in our development as a team where we can kind of tap the breaks. We just have too much development to be done."

Kelly said that his No. 13-ranked Tigers (4-1) have gotten better through the first five weeks of the season, which opened with a 27-20 loss to USC in Las Vegas before they've rattled off wins in the last four.

LSU IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL RANKINGS Updating LSU rankings in college football polls after South Alabama win in Week 5

LSU DEFENSE BETTER WITHOUT PERKINS? LSU football's defense better without Harold Perkins? Answering that in our LSU mailbag

Play along the defensive line, despite a season-ending injury to stalwart senior defensive tackle Jacobian Guillory, has been one of the biggest improved units on the team. The run game has seen marked improvement since the opening game and it appears LSU has found something with freshman Caden Durham at tailback.

But there have been areas when Kelly and the coaching staff continue to search for consistency. Coverage on the backend of the defense hasn't been great while the defensive coordinator Blake Baker has had to work through a few different defensive structures in efforts to get the best players on the field.

LSU lost star linebacker Harold Perkins during the UCLA game two weeks ago and Baker decided to go back to a 4-2-5 scheme with senior safety Major Burns at the Star position.

The defense played its most complete game in the 42-10 win over South Alabama last Saturday night but Kelly said that can't be enough. The players will have some time to rest and recover during this off week but the team still needs work.

"We're going to give them some time to recover but we need this work. It's important that we continue to work on the things that have improved, right?" Kelly said. "We're getting better as a football team.

"But we still have a lot of work left. And we need to take advantage of this week."

WHERE LSU MUST IMPROVE AHEAD OF OLE MISS Where there is cause for concern for LSU football as big matchup with Ole Miss awaits

GRADING LSU'S WIN OVER SOUTH ALABAMA Garrett Nussmeier hits 400 yards in LSU football's win vs South Alabama. Grading the win

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: How LSU football is 'taking advantage' of the off week