TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A week’s worth of anxiety and rumors were put to bed Thursday afternoon as Antonio Alfano returned to practice for Alabama. The five-star freshman defensive lineman was missing during Alabama’s three previous practices this week, stirring up a slew of message-board speculation. However, Nick Saban explained Alfano's absence was due to “personal reasons” during his Thursday news conference.
Alfano was rated as the No. 5 player overall and top defensive tackle in this year’s class. Thursday, the 6-foot-4, 285-pound defender was working in Alabama’s fourth group on the defensive line.
Thursday brought more positive news for the Crimson Tide as Jerome Ford returned to practice for the first time since spraining his ankle during the team’s second scrimmage last weekend. The redshirt sophomore projects as Alabama’s third back this season after five-star freshman Trey Sanders suffered what appears as a season-ending foot injury earlier this month.
“We’re going to work him in and see what he can do,” Saban said of Ford. “Try to do more and more each day and see if we can get him back to 100 percent. He’s done really well before he was injured, so we plan on him playing in the game. If he’s healthy enough and doctors clear him and we feel like he’s 100 percent, we’ll play him in this game. If not, we’ll have to wait and kind of see how he progresses. It’s going to be more day-to-day at this point.”
In other injury news, freshman inside linebacker Christian Harris was participating fully during drills Thursday after appearing limited earlier in the week. Harris wore a brace on his left knee the past two practices but was able to work without it Thursday. The former four-star recruit started for the first-team defense over the weekend and was third in line during drills Thursday.
Alabama is still without defensive lineman Stephon Wynn Jr., who is recovering from a high-ankle sprain. Last weekend, Saban said the redshirt freshman “will probably be out for another week.”
Alabama will open its season against Duke on Aug. 31 inside of Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
