Alabama players worked outside Friday for their final tune-up before Saturday’s scrimmage inside of Bryant-Denny Stadium. Players were dressed in shorts and shells for under cloudy, 84-degree weather for their 13th of 20 preseason practices. Here are some notes from the media viewing period.
— As expected, Matt Womack was not at present after breaking a bone in his foot during Thursday’s practice. The redshirt junior broke the same foot in March, keeping him out for the entirety of Alabama’s spring camp.
— Alabama’s offensive line split into groups of three. Jedrick Wills continued to work at tackle with Alex Leatherwood at guard next to Chris Owens. The left side of the line featured Jonah Williams, Lester Cotton and Ross Pierschbacher from left to right.
— Scott Lashley worked with the second group at left tackle while Deonte Brown played at left guard and Emil Ekiyor played at center. The right side of the line featured Tommy Brown at tackle, Joshua Casher at guard and Richie Petitbon at center.
— The inside linebackers took part in coverage drills with Pete Golding firing in balls from 10 yards out. The unit struggled with the drill as most players failed to reel in the rocket passes. However, freshman Ale Kaho was able to secure all three balls that came hs way.
— Listed at 6-foot-1, 218 pounds on Alabama’s official roster, Kaho is noticeably the smallest linebacker in the unit. However, he is one of the most polished during coverage drills.
— Deionte Thompson led the safeties in coverage drills and was followed by Xavier McKinney, Keaton Anderson, Daniel Wright, Eddie Smith, Jared Mayden, Kyriq McDonald and Shyheim Carter. We saw Carter feature at safety earlier this week. Alabama head coach says he’s looking to experiment some during camp.
— Alabama’s secondary worked out of the nickel package as reporters were ushered out. Trevon Diggs and Saivion Smith were the two outside corners while Carter played Star. Thompson and McKinney were the two safeties. Thursday, Patrick Surtain II was with the first-team unit at Star.
— During his Thursday news conference, Saban signaled out Diggs and McKinney as the two most consistent defensive backs.
"Everybody else has been a little up and down,” Saban said. “And to me, everybody else's positions is still, there's competition at all the rest of the positions.”
— There wasn’t much to see from the quarterback position as Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts tossed the ball back and forth to one another. The viewing period ended before the quarterbacks began throwing to receivers.
— Thursday, Saban said naming a starting quarterback would not be an easy decision.
“We have two guys who are great competitors, who are both really good players,” Saban said. “They both have good fall camps, so I don't expect it to be easy. I want them to continue to compete and work hard and do well. Our coaches are working hard to help each one of those guys to be the best player that they can be, and we're going to continue to do that. Like I said before, if both guys can contribute to our team, we'll certainly utilize it the best way we can.”
— As expected, Matt Womack was not at present after breaking a bone in his foot during Thursday’s practice. The redshirt junior broke the same foot in March, keeping him out for the entirety of Alabama’s spring camp.
— Alabama’s offensive line split into groups of three. Jedrick Wills continued to work at tackle with Alex Leatherwood at guard next to Chris Owens. The left side of the line featured Jonah Williams, Lester Cotton and Ross Pierschbacher from left to right.
— Scott Lashley worked with the second group at left tackle while Deonte Brown played at left guard and Emil Ekiyor played at center. The right side of the line featured Tommy Brown at tackle, Joshua Casher at guard and Richie Petitbon at center.
— The inside linebackers took part in coverage drills with Pete Golding firing in balls from 10 yards out. The unit struggled with the drill as most players failed to reel in the rocket passes. However, freshman Ale Kaho was able to secure all three balls that came hs way.
— Listed at 6-foot-1, 218 pounds on Alabama’s official roster, Kaho is noticeably the smallest linebacker in the unit. However, he is one of the most polished during coverage drills.
— Deionte Thompson led the safeties in coverage drills and was followed by Xavier McKinney, Keaton Anderson, Daniel Wright, Eddie Smith, Jared Mayden, Kyriq McDonald and Shyheim Carter. We saw Carter feature at safety earlier this week. Alabama head coach says he’s looking to experiment some during camp.
— Alabama’s secondary worked out of the nickel package as reporters were ushered out. Trevon Diggs and Saivion Smith were the two outside corners while Carter played Star. Thompson and McKinney were the two safeties. Thursday, Patrick Surtain II was with the first-team unit at Star.
— During his Thursday news conference, Saban signaled out Diggs and McKinney as the two most consistent defensive backs.
"Everybody else has been a little up and down,” Saban said. “And to me, everybody else's positions is still, there's competition at all the rest of the positions.”
— There wasn’t much to see from the quarterback position as Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts tossed the ball back and forth to one another. The viewing period ended before the quarterbacks began throwing to receivers.
— Thursday, Saban said naming a starting quarterback would not be an easy decision.
“We have two guys who are great competitors, who are both really good players,” Saban said. “They both have good fall camps, so I don't expect it to be easy. I want them to continue to compete and work hard and do well. Our coaches are working hard to help each one of those guys to be the best player that they can be, and we're going to continue to do that. Like I said before, if both guys can contribute to our team, we'll certainly utilize it the best way we can.”
