Preseason injuries, heat force No. 2 Alabama to take practice precautions

TUSCALOOSA —Tuesday’s preseason practice brought a rare but welcomed sight from Alabama’s defensive line grouping, when all three of expected first-team linemen — senior end Raekwon Davis, freshman tackle D.J. Dale and junior end LaBryan Ray — went through drills together for the first time since Spring.

Of course, on an adjoining football field was another example of how a cascade of injuries and general health concerns have severely inhibited the second-ranked Crimson Tide this preseason, as true freshman Shane Lee worked as the first-team Will linebacker in the team’s base defensive package while fellow true freshman Christian Harris stood off to the side not participating.

Harris, the 6-foot-2 and 244-pound summer enrollee, had been recently been promoted to the first-team defense prior to last Saturday’s final preseason scrimmage. But instead of going through positional reps, the Louisiana native was instead watching and sporting a heavy brace around his left knee one day after appearing to be nursing a leg injury during the open viewing period of Monday’s practice.

Although head coach Nick Saban has yet to comment on Harris’ status, his absence is the latest blow to a team that’s already dealt with several costly preseason injuries, including losing both senior inside linebacker Josh McMillon and freshman running back Trey Sanders for the season earlier this month. That’s in addition to other nagging injuries, including to projected starters like Dale (sprained knee), Ray (ankle), and junior tight end Miller Forristall (foot) missing considerable time through the first two weeks of practice.

“Player safety is the No. 1 thing that we’re always concerned about in terms of the way we practice, the things that we do with our players. That’s No. 1,” Saban said Saturday following the team’s final preseason scrimmage. “And I don’t think football is a dangerous game, but you have to do it correctly. You have to play safely. You’ve got to keep your face up, you can’t put your head down (because) that’s going to enhance head injuries. Wearing the right kind of shoes can help foot and ankle injuries. Getting proper rest (is important).”

Still, as many on Alabama’s roster have experienced this August and multiple times over the last several years, injuries are going to happen. It’s how players adjust and keep moving forward, a lesson junior outside linebacker Terrell Lewis learned the hard way after missing a combined 25 games over the past two seasons with separate elbow and knee injuries, the latter of which cost him all of last year after tearing his ACL last summer.

“I feel like that's just a part of the game. So, for me, I feel like that's why we preach to the guys to stay ready, you never know what could happen,” Lewis said earlier this month. “It's a testament to what we've kind of been through around here. Like we've seen guys go down — (including) my year (in 2017) when I went down in the Florida State game and Christian (Miller) went down (as well). So, we've seen it and that's why we preach to guys to always stay ready."

Given a general lack of quality (read: experienced) depth beyond the first team, Alabama has also had to protect many of its expected starters, whether that’s reducing reps at practice or holding them out of action during the team’s two live scrimmages this month. Joining Dale, Forristall and Ray on the sideline Saturday were Lewis and senior outside linebacker Anfernee Jennings, meaning four players on the team’s projected starting defensive front seven were unavailable in Alabama’s final preseason scrimmage two weeks before its first game.

And while having several veterans out also creates opportunities for younger players to step up, it can have a negative trickle-down effect, especially for the Tide coaching staff that’s still evaluating players to determine who will be part of the team’s two-deep depth chart on Saturdays this season.

“For example, I think four guys on the front seven on defense didn’t scrimmage today that we would consider starters, and then we limited the reps of some other guys,” Saban said Saturday. “So, the first-team becomes half of the second-team, the second-team becomes half of the third-team. So, it’s great for the experience of the (younger) players and their development … to be able to get in those situations, (and) have to be responsible and accountable to do their job. But it’s also not totally realistic to see how that unit is really developing.”

The sweltering August heat has also been an issue.

In the three weeks since the team returned to the practice fields Aug. 2, the daily high temperature has ranged from 92-100 degrees, including averaging 97.7 degrees last week. In fact, the team’s final preseason scrimmage was held Saturday during the hottest point of the day between noon-3 p.m. when temperatures reached as high as 99 degrees.

Alabama has tried its best to work around the arduous conditions, including scheduling four evening practices that begin after 7 p.m. and several more inside the team’s temperature-controlled indoor facility. The team also has a new outdoor cryo-chamber where temperatures drop below 25 degrees for “recovery breaks during practice,” according to head athletic trainer Jeff Allen.

“It’s tough conditions, (but) we’ve tried to balance the conditions that we practice with our players,” Saban said last week. “We have a lot of systems and protocols in place, whether it’s taking breaks in practice when the players go in the ice machine or ice tent over there so they can get their body temperature down. We really work hard on hydration. … (But) we go out there sometimes during the daytime because we’ll probably end up having to play a game or two in the daytime in pretty difficult conditions. I mean, it usually happens that way around here.”

There’s no denying that.

Outside of Alabama’s season-opening game against Duke (2:30 p.m. kickoff) inside Atlanta’s covered Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the Tide kickoff in the middle of the day in its next two already-announced games, including at 3 p.m. Sept. 7 in its home opener against New Mexico State at Bryant-Denny Stadium, when the high is projected to be in the low 90s that day.

It’s why Saban makes it a point to get his players mentally prepared for the heat, including reminding them keep pushing through the physical pain and fatigue. It’s the same with players that may still be working their way back from injury and are not quite fully healthy just yet.

“What I tell players all the time, 'Give us 100 percent of what you've got.' Some people think if they're not 100 percent, they really can't play. We need you to practice and give 100 percent of whatever you've got. That's how you get better,” Saban said Saturday. “Who's 100 percent? Nobody's 100 percent. You've got to learn how to give 100 percent of whatever is you've got.”