TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — After holding its first preseason scrimmage behind closed doors on Saturday, Alabama opened the gates to Bryant-Denny Stadium for an open practice as part of Fan Day on Sunday.
Players wore full pads and worked under sunny, 90-degree weather. Sunday’s practice served as the 10th of 20 preseason workouts leading up to game week of the season-opener against Western Kentucky on Aug. 31. Here are some notes from the practice.
— A lot of Alabama’s regular players were held out or limited during Sunday’s practice. Keep in mind, the Crimson Tide just had a 102-play scrimmage on Saturday, so much of that might be precautionary.
— First-team guards Tyler Booker and Jaeden Roberts were two of the notable non-participants. Both players dressed out but did not participate in any drills with the rest of the linemen. Booker did some band work before walking up and down stadium steps. Roberts briefly worked by himself on the field but was later seen walking with a bit of a limp.
— With the two guards missing, Alabama’s first-team offensive line was made up of Kadyn Proctor, Geno VanDeMark, Parker Brailsford, Roq Montgomery and Wilkin Formby from left to right.
— The second unit on the offensive line featured Miles McVay, William Sanders, Joseph Ionata, Casey Poe and Elijah Pritchett from left to right. I didn’t see Olaus Alinen going through any drills. He’s typically the backup left guard.
— The quarterbacks and centers paired up to practice snapping. The pairings were: Jalen Milroe-Parker Brailsford, Ty Simpson-Joseph Ionata, Austin Mack-Geno VanDeMark, Dylan Lonergan-Roq Montgomery.
— Running backs Jam Miller and Richard Young were dressed out but did not participate in drills Sunday. Miller played a significant part in Saturday’s scrimmage, while Young did not participate in Saturday’s workout, according to sources. Both players walked stadium steps along with Booker.
— Freshman running back Daniel Hill was not dressed out and had his arm in a sling. He was part of the stadium-step gang as well.
— Saturday, DeBoer said that roughly two-thirds of the scrimmage featured the first and second units. Sunday, the backups got far more reps than the first-teamers.
— Inside linebacker Jihaad Campbell, outside linebacker Keanu Koht and defensive lineman Tim Smith were dressed out, but I didn’t see much from them during team drills.
— Alabama’s first-team defense featured Jah-Marien Latham at Bandit with Tim Keenan and Jehiem Oatis as the inside defensive tackles and Que Robinson at Wolf. Deontae Lawson and Justin Jefferson were the two inside linebackers. The secondary included Zabien Brown and Domani Jackson at the two cornerback positions, DeVonta Smith at Husky and Malachi Moore and Keon Sabb as the deep safeties.
— Alabama’s second-team defense featured LT Overton at Bandit, Damon Payne and James Smith as the defensive tackles and Yhonzae Pierre/Qua Russaw at Wolf. Jeremiah Alexander and Sterling Dixon were the inside linebackers. King Mack manned the Husky role, while Zavier Mincey and Jaylen Mbakwe were the outside cornerbacks. Kameron Howard and Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. were the two deep safeties.
— Alabama’s most common trio of first-team receivers included Ryan Williams, Cole Adams and Germie Bernard. Kendrick Law and Kobie Prentice were also participating in team drills though. Law made one of the nicer catches on the afternoon coming up with a ball against Mincey.
— Shortly after, Emmanuel Henderson gained a step on Howard before reeling in a pass from Dylan Lonergan for a big gain. Henderson secured the catch as Kirkpatrick was going for an interception. Had it been a full-contact drill, Kirkpatrick would have likely been playing the receiver, not the ball and might have broken up the pass with a big hit.
— Noah Carter had an interception return for a touchdown on one play.
— Alabama’s pun returners were Cole Adams and Jaylen Mbakwe.
— There were several gunner pairings, including: Red Morgan and Domani Jackson, DaShawn Jones and Ryan Williams, Rico Scott and Emmanuel Henderson, Jarin Hamilton and Jahlil Hurley, Kendrick Law and King Mack.
— Kicker Graham Nicholson made every kick I saw him attempt from around the 40-yard range. Conor Talty was also perfect on the kicks we saw.
— After putting together a solid scrimmage, Milroe didn’t do much during the open practice. Ty Simpson, Dylan Lonergan and Austin Mack received most of the reps. Simpson looked the most impressive of the three backups. He made a nice throw in the run to Emmanuel Henderson in one rep.
— Among the few plays he did participate in with the first-team offense Milroe connected with Ryan Williams on a short curl route.
— At one point, Alabama’s backup quarterbacks were practicing throwing balls into trash bins in the corner of the end zone from roughly 25 yards out. When I was watching, Simpson and Mack sunk a couple while Lonergan came very close on a few.
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