Nick Saban wasn’t giving an inch when it came to evaluating Kool-Aid McKinstry as Alabama’s punt returner.
During the first quarter of Alabama’s win over Kentucky, McKinstry muffed a punt while leading 21-0 which ultimately resulted in a Wildcat’s touchdown.
Following the game, Saban was asked about the play and whether there’s been consideration of trying someone else at the position. But Saban believes that play can’t squarely be put on McKinstry.
“I love the guy he’s a good returner,” Saban said. “Look, the gunner on that side ran into him when he missed the punt that’s the gunner’s responsibility. You can’t look up and catch a ball and worry about somebody that’s running down the field blocking for you, running into you. So he tried to fair catch the ball.
“I’ve got every confidence in the world. He’s been a good player for us and I just think the players around him have to do a little bit better job because when you get these radical punts, I’m gonna call them, you know you don’t get easy balls to field, you’ve got to cover a lot of ground to catch it and that launch point of where he’s catching it changes for the people that are blocking for him.
“So I’m not making excuses for anybody but you can’t blame him for that one in my opinion. I think he did a great job of sticking it up the middle we mostly ran middle returns today and it was good to see us get one off to a big play.”
Despite the early turnover, McKinstry added a 27-yard return which set the Crimson Tide up for another score in the game which makes it safe to assume that Saban won’t be changing his mind about punt returner.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
