If one tries to choose Nick Saban’s quarterback, it must prepare for repercussions when he takes the podium at his pressers.
After the University of Alabama had it first of three scrimmages on last week, one of the questions directed to Saban was on the timetable of the quarterback battle with Tua Tagovailoa still limited.
The sophomore, who’s projected by many as the starter for next season, has been dealing with an index finger injury to his left hand. Tagovailoa sustained the mishap on the first day of spring practice, and since then he’s been working with trainers while seeing limited action on the field.
Despite rumors and various reports having the former five-star to be in action by Alabama’s spring game, Saban has ‘no time frame’ on Tagovailoa being back to full strength.
“I do not think that any time a player gets hurt at any position that he should be penalized for that,” Saban said of Tagovailoa. “Does it give other players an opportunity to show what they can do? Absolutely, but he probably got like 15-20 snaps early in the scrimmage and did well.”
With the push behind Tagovailoa, Jalen Hurts is not backing down.
Per sources, he tossed a pair of touchdowns – including one to Devonta Smith. For Crimson Tide fans, they want to see a major improvement in Hurts’ passing abilities and according to Saban, the junior did a ‘nice job’ but there are some things that could have been done better.
“Jalen started out a bit slow, but he made some really good plays as the scrimmage went on, and that was encouraging,” Saban said.
This is the first highly-anticipated quarterback competition since 2011, when Alabama encountered AJ McCarron and Phillip Sims. It was a race that took three games to decide a winner, however, McCarron (redshirt sophomore) won over the team with his style of play.
Not saying the Jalen-Tua conversation will drag completely out, but Saban knows what he has in both guys and can see the team benefitting with the two. Seeing how he has won five national championships, he can care less for the opinion of others on determining his guy under center.
“This is not something that we are keeping score on,” Saban said in terms of rating Hurts and Tagovailoa in the competition. “When you ask me this question, I can’t really give you an answer that’s going to satisfy your needs.”
Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
