If Jalen had told Saban before SEC Media Days that he was gonna be here, then he should have answered it that way. I'm still of the opinion Saban created some of this by his wording.
His wording was fine... when has Saban ever answered a "stupid" question "straight forward"? He answered it like he always has, with a tone of irritation about how stupid the question was... The media then took PART of the answer and inflated it to click bait...
His answer was, he expected him to be there. If you asked me if I EXPECTED to be alive tomorrow, I might answer... I don't know... I expect to be. That means to all his knowledge he is expecting Jalen to be there, but the outcome is ultimately out of his control.