As Alabama was taking the field against Mississippi State on Saturday there were a few noticeable absences from the team’s warmups.
Wide receiver Kendrick Law, offensive lineman Terrence Ferguson, linebackers Deontae Lawson and Kendrick Blackshire and starting defensive linemen DJ Dale and Jaheim Oatis were all seen wearing street clothes on the sidelines.
Following the game, Saban was asked during his press conference about the status of the two starters Dale, and Oatis moving forward.
“They’re day-to-day, but hopefully we’ll get one back for sure, maybe. Maybe both,” Saban said. “But it’s probably too early to tell.”
In place of the two injured linemen, Byron Young and Tim Smith got the start against the Bulldogs with redshirt freshman Damon Payne also seeing extended snaps. The Crimson Tide has had to rely on its depth on the interior as it now has three defensive linemen on the injured list as Justin Eboigbe was also dealing with a neck injury prior to this game.
Saban also discussed the staff stressing to the young players on the team to stay prepared in the event that they may be called upon to play.
“I think that’s what we tell all the young, guys,” Saban said, “and it’s kind of a hard concept for them to understand sometimes that, ‘Don’t worry about what your circumstance is right now, but make sure you’re doing the work and putting in the time to prepare yourself so if you get and opportunity, you’ll be ready to take advantage of it.’ And I thought Payne did a pretty good job of that.
“We really only had four defensive linemen in the game. The most we ever played with was two, sometimes only one and played a whole bunch of ‘backers. So you get a little small, which can affect your ability to stop the run. But you’ve gotta scheme it the best you can with the guys that you’ve got. And hopefully, we’ll get some of these guys back. But it’s also good experience for those guys, and they’ll be more ready to play the next time.”
Despite the missing players up front, Alabama was able to roll to a 30-6 win over Mississippi State as it now heads into its bye week.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
