Crimson Red Sports

We made a lot more explosive plays today, were a lot more consistent on offense. Took care of the ball pretty well, both quarterbacks (Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts) played well.

On the other hand, he said, “I thought the tackling was not as crisp as it needs to be on defense, and we continue to make probably more mental errors than we're going to be able to tolerate. We're continuing to work with guys. Working together and communicating is going to be really, really important.

I think the big message is, the things that we focused on and the things that we worked on, we made improvement on. The things that we don't pay attention to detail on, people trying to get the ball out, breaking the ball out, ball security, those types of things that we really make a great emphasis on, we need continue to create more turnovers on defense. I thought we did a pretty good job of taking care of the ball today on offense.

“Jalen has made a lot of improvement. Tua has made a lot of improvement. I think he has a better understanding of the offense, he’s got a lot more reps. I think he’s always been a very instinctive player. But I think he would tell you that his knowledge and experience has certainly benefited him in having greater confidence and understanding for what he’s doing.”

And prior to Saturday’s second scrimmage, Saban still did not rule out using both players.

“We have two guys who are great competitors, who are both really good players,” Saban said. “They both have had good fall camps, so I don’t expect (the decision) to be easy. I want them to continue to compete and work hard and do well. Our coaches are working hard to help each one of those guys to be the best player that they can be, and we're going to continue to do that.

“Like I said before, if both guys can contribute to our team, we’ll certainly utilize that the best way we can.”

“We basically have Anfernee and Christian Miller, who have been starters around here,” Saban said. “Past that, we have Ben Davis and (three) freshmen. That’s basically what we have. If we had more inside linebackers -- Joshua McMillon could play the position, but I’m not sure we could afford to move him. So, we’re very thin at those two positions right now.”

“Jamey Mosley has been practicing some but no contact,” Saban said. “His position is not really one that you can play without contact, so he didn’t scrimmage today. But we feel like he’ll be back on the field and able to do some things next week.”

Newcomers: Jarez Parks, Eyabi Anoma, Cameron Latu

With the injuries, Alabama could be in a similar situation to last year where a freshman had to fill role as a key reserve. Luckily, UA has three promising first-year players on its current roster.

After a grayshirt year, Parks joined the program prior to the College Football Playoff and has a few more reps already under his belt than his fellow newcomers. Anoma and Latu joined the team this summer, and all three of the newcomers look the part from a physical standpoint. And according to an Alabama veteran, all of the young linebackers have caught on quickly.

“The biggest thing I’ve seen from them is their willingness to learn because obviously, those guys are all talented,” Miller said. “They wouldn’t be here if they weren’t. I’ve seen tremendous physical traits from them, but the thing I like about all those guys is they all want to learn.

“They’re texting me, coming up to me, asking me, ‘Can we get extra film?’ every day. That’s something that I think is awesome, and I’m more than willing to help them. Those guys have been doing a really good job. I just told them, ‘Y’all are probably the most advanced group of freshman that I’ve seen here since I’ve been here, and I’ve been here a while.’”

:o wow these are great reports. Sounds like if we stay healthy we have some young LB's who by next year will really be hard to follow. RTR!

I'm worried about this year.  If the past two years are an indication of what's to come, especially late in the year, we are going to have some injuries at LB.  Gonna need some of these guys to step up quickly.  That's asking a lot.