Alabama football head coach, Nick Saban confirmed all reports on Christian Miller’s injury being minor in Tuesday’s coaches teleconference for the College Football Playoff.
Miller suffered a hamstring injury in the second half of the Orange Bowl against Oklahoma and did not return to the game. He would be assisted to the locker room and though it looked to be very serious, the final result from the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a minor pull.
RELATED: Update on Christian Miller, trio of players to look at for matchup with Clemson
After battling a biceps issue in 2017 and adding more weight, Miller is having the best season of his career.
The 6-foot-4, 240-pound senior from South Carolina has 8.5 sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss, both of which are among the highest on the team. He recently accepted an invitation to the Reese’s Senior Bowl and according to a graphic from Pro Football Focus, Miller has proven to be one of the nation’s most effective pass rushers.
Christian Miller currently ranks 5th among the nation’s edge defenders with a 12.1 pass-rush productivity after recording 39 pressures on just 203 pass-rushes pic.twitter.com/YH7nXWDCeI
— PFF College (@PFF_College) December 31, 2018
According to Saban, the former five-star is considered “questionable” in terms of his ability to contribute in the CFP title game versus Clemson.
“We’re sort of taking it day by day to see how he responds,” Saban said of Miller.
While the Crimson Tide starts practice this week, the trio of Jamey Mosley, Eyabi Anoma and LaBryan Ray are all ready to pitch in if Miller cannot play. The option to bring back Terrell Lewis is also in play, seeing how he was the first one to get hurt last season and found a way to return and make a huge contribution. Alabama will monitor Miller throughout this week.
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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.
