Video of safeties from Monday practice

Getting close enough to film the defensive backs is rare at Alabama football practice. So here is a rare look at the defensive backs working this afternoon in Tuscaloosa.

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Video of Sunseri working outside linebackers

Take a peek at coach Sal Sunseri running the outside linebackers through a few basic drills on a cloudy Monday afternoon in Tuscaloosa. You’ll see Courtney Upshaw, Jerrell Harris, Adrian Hubbard and others in the first of a few clips coming this evening.

 

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A few notes from practice

We just stepped back inside from from the brief media viewing period from this afternoon’s practice. Here’s what I saw:

• Running back Eddie Lacy was working in a regular white jersey for the offense and not a black non-contact top worn by players with more serious injuries. Nick Saban said he would be limited today with a toe injury from Saturday.
• Injured linebacker C.J. Mosley did not practice as Saban said would be the case. His status for Saturday’s game at Florida is iffy at best after hurting his elbow against Arkansas.
• Everyone else listed as healthy appeared to be on the field.
• The weather was gloomy and the radar for the region shows red stuff in the neighborhood, but the team was outside working on the far practice fields.
• Linebacker’s coach Sal Sunseri is tired of this “paddy cake” stuff. You’ll see what I’m talking about when I post video in a bit.

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Muschamp faces Star Wars question relating to ‘former master’ Saban

All the credit goes to fellow Alabama writer Izzy Gould for pointing this one out, but I couldn’t resist passing this on to the rest of you.

Click here for video from Will Muschamp’s news conference where he’s asked about the “student versus former master” showdown this weekend with former boss Nick Saban. It’s pretty funny and definitely worth the watch.

Saban faced several question in his own news conference today relating to his former assistant. He answered with a little more depth than you’ll see from Muschamp. In all fairness, however, this was just a small sound bite from the event.

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Updating injuries to Mosley, Lacy, others

There was an express lane between the Alabama sideline and the locker room Saturday afternoon in Bryant-Denny Stadium. Injuries reared their head for the first significant time this season. Here’s a quick rundown of the status for the afflicted by Monday.

• Linebacker C.J. Mosley’s elbow injury is obviously the issue taking top priority this week. Nick Saban said he would need a couple of days before practicing this week. The versatile sophomore is “questionable” for Saturday’s trip to Gainesville.
• Running back Eddie Lacy “will not do much today” after injuring his toe injury suffered Saturday. The sophomore returned to the game after hurting it in the first half, though.
• Linebacker Dont’a Hightower didn’t say exactly what the injury was that kept him on the turf for a few extra moments against Arkansas, but assured it was nothing major. “Just a bang,” he said.
• Fellow linebacker Chris Jordan hasn’t seen the field yet this season. He practiced some early last week, but Saban said they had to shut him down by midweek.

Much more to come later today. Stay tuned.

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TV sets kick time for homecoming game with Vandy

The television networks have huddled and come to a consensus on the Oct. 1 kickoff times.

That means Alabama will play Vanderbilt at 6 p.m. on either ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU.

It will be the third straight year of playing the homecoming game in the evening in Tuscaloosa.

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SEC rewards performance of Alabama player

The SEC player of the week awards just hit the street and there’s a heavy Alabama influence on the list.

Running back Trent Richardson was named offensive player of the week after accounting for 235 all-purpose yards in Saturday’s 38-14 win over Arkansas. It was his third straight game of 100 or more rushing yards, but his 61-yard touchdown on a screen pass was the highlight of his day.

Left tackle Barrett Jones was selected as the offensive lineman of the week for paving the road for Richardson more than a few times. Then cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick was on the list of other top performers for his big open-field tackling.

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Conservative yet explosive: Big plays start small

Copyright photo by Jeronimo Nisa/The Decatur Daily

Take a look at this week’s Inside Alabama beat column dealing with the conventionally unconventional Crimson Tide offense.

TUSCALOOSA — Conservative and explosive don’t often share a sentence concerning college football.

The exception to conventional wisdom, however, resides in Tuscaloosa. Alabama’s offense has dialed it back through four games — two against ranked opponents — while not sacrificing the home run.

Now the contrasting principles have bled into other phases of the game. The Crimson Tide defense only truly blitzed once in a 38-14 pounding of then-No. 14 Arkansas, yet Razorback quarterback Tyler Wilson was limping like Brett Favre by the fourth quarter.

No. 3 Alabama (4-0, 1-0 SEC) scored touchdowns off a heads-up deflected interception by DeQuan Menzie. The 83-yard back-breaking punt return by Marquis Maze wasn’t a radical overhaul of the blocking. Instead, he just took a different lane to crush Arkansas’ morale.

The Alabama offense, though, does vanilla almost as well as Dairy Queen. Sure, the first touchdown scored Saturday came on a trick play, but we’re counting that as special teams since the original formation indicated field goal.

Click here to read the rest or just drop 50 cents on a newspaper.

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