Practice Report: Tuesday, Vandy week
By Tony Tsoukalas
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama practiced Tuesday in its second workout in preparation for Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt. Players wore full pads in humid, 88-degree weather for the practice.
Here are a few notes from the media viewing period:
— Alabama’s three injured linebackers were all moving well during the practice. Anfernee Jennings (ankle) brought up the rear of the outside linebackers unit, while Rashaan Evans (groin) and Dylan Moses (concussion) worked with the inside linebackers. Alabama head coach Nick Saban said he would make evaluations on each of the players toward the end of the week. As of now, things look optimistic that all three will be available on Saturday.
— True freshman LaBryan Ray is back with the defensive linemen after spending time with the outside linebackers in recent weeks. That could say a lot about how Alabama views the statuses of its three injured linebackers.
— Alabama’s first two units on offensive line remained the same. Alex Leatherwood, who was not seen working with the first two units during Monday’s limited viewing period, is practicing with the scout team.
— Alabama’s secondary practiced out of the nickel with Levi Wallace and Anthony Averett as the cornerbacks, Hootie Jones and Ronnie Harrison as the safeties and Minkah Fitzpatrick as the Star. Keith Holcombe and Shaun Dion Hamilton were the two linebackers with the first-team unit.
— A couple things that stand out are that Wallace seems to have locked down the starting job at left cornerback while Jones appears to be favored over Tony Brown when the team is out of the nickel package. Coming into the season, many would have projected Fitzpatrick to play strong safety and Tony Brown to play Star when Alabama had five defensive backs on the field. However, Jones’ solid play so far has been awarded by coaches.
— The second unit consisted of Trevon Diggs and Shyheim Carter at cornerbacks, with Jared Mayden shadowing Diggs and Nigel Knott shadowing Carter. Brown served as the Star. Xavier McKinney was at strong safety, while Deionte Thompson was shadowed by Daniel Wright at free safety. Mack Wilson was at one linebacker position, while Rashaan Evans was shadowed by Dylan Moses at the other.
— During a play in team drills, walk-on receiver Jonathan Rice ran a wrong route and fell victim to Nick Saban’s wrath.
— During individual drills, the wide receivers worked on out routes as Alabama quarterbacks rolled out before hitting them on the sidelines.
— At this point, freshman Tua Tagovailoa is still a little inconsistent rolling out. During two throws he failed to deliver the ball with much power. However, on his third attempt, he delivered a dime right to his receiver. This doesn’t look like a thing to worry about, just something that should come with more time.
Tuesday practice report (Vanderbilt week) | BamaInsider.com