Fitzpatrick embracing āchallengeā at safety
TUSCALOOSA ā A week ago, Nick Saban met with sophomore cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick and issued a challenge.
In light of a season-ending leg injury to senior safety Eddie Jackson two days earlier against Texas A&M, Alabamaās longtime head coach understood if anyone could handle the responsibility associated with taking over as quarterback of the Crimson Tide secondary, it was Fitzpatrick.
But rather than simply say that, Saban approached his second-year playmaker with an opportunity.
āCoach Saban ā¦ was talking to me about how I needed a new challenge and he said, āIām going to move you to the safety and try to fill in the role for Eddie (Jackson),āā Fitzpatrick recalled Monday. āSo thatās what I said ā I tweeted āchallenge accepted.āā
Saban isnāt ready to formally announce the move, even if Fitzpatrick believes itās a done deal already.
āWe haven't made any decisions for sure on how we'll go there,ā Saban said Monday. āWe'll just continue to work and see how it develops and see who can handle it the best and try to put the best combination of guys out there we can relative to what we have to play against.ā
After spending much of the bye week practices readjusting to safety, a position he played some in high school, Fitzpatrick was ready to begin fully embracing his position change this week, while preparing for a difficult matchup Saturday against No. 14 LSU.
āIt was a little bit of both because it is different in high school and college, but physically I was good,ā Fitzpatrick said. āI just have to know a little bit more (than I did at corner). That was the only thing I really had to review.ā
Moving Fitzpatrick from star to strong safety would necessitate additional moves which could create more opportunities for others in the secondary, including in the dime and nickel packages.
That would allow junior defensive back Tony Brown to replace Fitzpatrick at star with junior reserve Hootie Jones manning the dime safety role heās handled more of recently, including earning a start against A&M.
āItās kind of like the next man up ā the next man up got to know that he has a standard to uphold,ā senior defensive end Jonathan Allen said. āWe have all the most confidence in whoever is going to be able to take Eddie Jacksonās spot.ā
Among the other possibilities Alabama is entertaining is simply moving Jones up the depth chart to replace Jackson at strong safety.
But it appears Sabanās preference would be to utilize Fitzpatrick in that role.
āMinkah has worked back there some (in high school) and he's very natural at it,ā Saban said Monday.
Fitzpatrickās teammates agree wholeheartedly with the move.
āMinkah is a great player, instinctive, like a hard worker, hard hitter, smart ā very smart ā heās a great player,ā senior linebacker Reuben Foster said last week.
āHe knows the plays very well, heās great with plays.ā
Which is why, if thereās one part of the transition Fitzpatrick isnāt worried about, itās making in-play adjustments, a skill he naturally adapted when he played star.
āAt star, youāre kind of the first one to see adjustments and stuff, ā¦ (and at that point) Iām going to turn around make a call to either Reuben or Eddie,ā Fitzpatrick said. āSo there are times (Iāve had to make adjustments), Iām going to be used to making changes and making adjustment calls to my teammates. Itās not something Iām not used to.ā
Itās because of that familiarity that Fitzpatrick believes he can more than handle the move to safety, and why he has the confidence to embrace the challenge.
āYou know itās a lot of fun,ā Fitzpatrick said. āI played it in high school so its not like itās a foreign place to me, but you still have to know a little bit more and Coach (Saban) thinks I can handle the responsibility.ā
TUSCALOOSA ā A week ago, Nick Saban met with sophomore cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick and issued a challenge.
In light of a season-ending leg injury to senior safety Eddie Jackson two days earlier against Texas A&M, Alabamaās longtime head coach understood if anyone could handle the responsibility associated with taking over as quarterback of the Crimson Tide secondary, it was Fitzpatrick.
But rather than simply say that, Saban approached his second-year playmaker with an opportunity.
āCoach Saban ā¦ was talking to me about how I needed a new challenge and he said, āIām going to move you to the safety and try to fill in the role for Eddie (Jackson),āā Fitzpatrick recalled Monday. āSo thatās what I said ā I tweeted āchallenge accepted.āā
Saban isnāt ready to formally announce the move, even if Fitzpatrick believes itās a done deal already.
āWe haven't made any decisions for sure on how we'll go there,ā Saban said Monday. āWe'll just continue to work and see how it develops and see who can handle it the best and try to put the best combination of guys out there we can relative to what we have to play against.ā
After spending much of the bye week practices readjusting to safety, a position he played some in high school, Fitzpatrick was ready to begin fully embracing his position change this week, while preparing for a difficult matchup Saturday against No. 14 LSU.
āIt was a little bit of both because it is different in high school and college, but physically I was good,ā Fitzpatrick said. āI just have to know a little bit more (than I did at corner). That was the only thing I really had to review.ā
Moving Fitzpatrick from star to strong safety would necessitate additional moves which could create more opportunities for others in the secondary, including in the dime and nickel packages.
That would allow junior defensive back Tony Brown to replace Fitzpatrick at star with junior reserve Hootie Jones manning the dime safety role heās handled more of recently, including earning a start against A&M.
āItās kind of like the next man up ā the next man up got to know that he has a standard to uphold,ā senior defensive end Jonathan Allen said. āWe have all the most confidence in whoever is going to be able to take Eddie Jacksonās spot.ā
Among the other possibilities Alabama is entertaining is simply moving Jones up the depth chart to replace Jackson at strong safety.
But it appears Sabanās preference would be to utilize Fitzpatrick in that role.
āMinkah has worked back there some (in high school) and he's very natural at it,ā Saban said Monday.
Fitzpatrickās teammates agree wholeheartedly with the move.
āMinkah is a great player, instinctive, like a hard worker, hard hitter, smart ā very smart ā heās a great player,ā senior linebacker Reuben Foster said last week.
āHe knows the plays very well, heās great with plays.ā
Which is why, if thereās one part of the transition Fitzpatrick isnāt worried about, itās making in-play adjustments, a skill he naturally adapted when he played star.
āAt star, youāre kind of the first one to see adjustments and stuff, ā¦ (and at that point) Iām going to turn around make a call to either Reuben or Eddie,ā Fitzpatrick said. āSo there are times (Iāve had to make adjustments), Iām going to be used to making changes and making adjustment calls to my teammates. Itās not something Iām not used to.ā
Itās because of that familiarity that Fitzpatrick believes he can more than handle the move to safety, and why he has the confidence to embrace the challenge.
āYou know itās a lot of fun,ā Fitzpatrick said. āI played it in high school so its not like itās a foreign place to me, but you still have to know a little bit more and Coach (Saban) thinks I can handle the responsibility.ā
