Alabama running back AK Dear will be sidelined to begin the 2026 campaign after suffering an ankle injury during a scrimmage on Thursday afternoon.
Dear is expected to miss the next six weeks at a minimum after he was diagnosed with a lower-leg fracture on Friday. The sophomore has been playing at an extremely high level over the course of fall camp, and Dear’s injury is ultimately a brutal blow to Alabama’s run game moving forward.
Legendary Crimson Tide quarterback AJ McCarron recently shared his thoughts on Dear’s injury situation, as McCarron believes that Alabama’s depth at the position will keep them afloat in his absence.
“You want your guys to know how to take a hit.” McCarron said. “You want your defense to have some experience wrapping guys up and actually taking them to the ground. But at the same time, your kind of just hoping and praying that are we going to come out of this thing clean and injury-free. Listen, it’s apart of the game, it sucks, but it’s apart of it. We’ve said it before, next guy up. And that’s the mentality you got to have going into it, and you got to have other guys ready to go. If there is a spot on this team that you can at least have one or two injuries at, I would say it’s this room. You got other guys in the room that can step up.”
Dear could make his season debut as early as Week 4 against South Carolina. The running back’s injury is an unfortunate loss for the Tide’s backfield to begin the year, and the sophomore will now turn his full attention towards his recovery process over the next month and a half.
