Following Alabama’s second scrimmage of fall camp, head coach Nick Saban was asked for an update on the progress of tight end Jahleel Billingsley who slipped on the depth chart earlier in fall camp.
Saban took the opportunity to not only send a strong message to his junior tight end, but also to the rest of the team.
“That’s up to him,” Saban said. “That’s not up to me. He knows what he is supposed to do in practice. He knows what he is supposed to do. This is not a democracy. Everybody doesn’t get to do what they want to do. Everybody doesn’t get to do what they feel like doing. You’ve got to buy in and do what you’re supposed to do to be a part of the team and do things you need to do in practice everyday.”
Billingsley has originally missed the opening practices of fall camp as Saban said he’d been dealing with COVID protocols which he had been reprimanded for.
Saban also spoke about the players having a sense of urgency, especially with NFL scouts on hand at nearly every practice and having the team create value for themselves each time they step onto the field.
“We have scouts at practice every day,” Saban said. “Everybody thinks it just about playing in the game. It’s not just about playing in the game. They watch practice film. They watch guys every day. You guys on ESPN, you evaluate what happens in the game. But they evaluate what happens every day, what you do every day, So what are you doing every day to create any value for yourself? But you’ve got to create value for yourself so that your teammates and everybody gets confidence in you so that you have their confidence when you go out there and play.
“That’s up to every player on the team. I don’t make that decision for everybody on the team. I try to get them to do it I try to point out the importance of them doing it. But it’s up to them to do it. It’s up to them to do it. So maybe that’s not my question to answer.”
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
