Motley goes out with hand injury

TUSCALOOSA | Freshman defensive tackle Brian Motley missed practice Thursday because of a hand injury, Alabama head coach Nick Saban said. The injury may require surgery, but Saban said Motley should be out no longer than a week.

“Brian Motley injured his hand,” Saban said. “I don’t think it’s a serious injury. He was at the doctor this morning. They’ll make a determination as to what they do. It’s a small bone in his hand, they may have to do surgery, but it should be five to seven days even if they do something like that.”

Motley emerged in the spring as the frontrunner at defensive tackle after switching from the offensive line. Sophomore Lorenzo Washington and freshmen Alfred McCullough and Josh Chapman are competing at the position also.

Saban confirmed that running back Roy Upchurch had been cleared for contact. The Tallahassee, Fla., native was wearing the offense’s usual white jersey Wednesday, marking the first time he had shed the black, non-contact jersey during fall camp.

Tide preparing

for final scrimmage

Alabama will hold a single practice this afternoon before taking the field at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday for the final scrimmage of the fall.

In the first scrimmage, Saban focused on seeing how the players performed without coaches standing behind them. On Saturday, Saban said part of the scrimmage will feature a lot of game-like situations.

“In this scrimmage, we’re going to make at least a portion of it a little more game-like for everybody in the organization,” he said. “The guys calling plays, the guys calling defenses, quarterbacks getting signals, the whole thing will be a little more game-like, because that’s the next step in the progression of trying to get the team ready.”

The Tide defense’s poor tackling was a hot topic with Saban after the first scrimmage.

“Better execution, more guys playing winning football, be aggressive, tackle better,” Saban said about what he wants to see from his defense Saturday.

“I don’t think you can tackle if you’re not intense. What’s your trademark? What are you trying to sell? We want to be tough, relentless, run to the ball, play with effort and enthusiasm. That’s what we’re looking for.”

Alabama will take Sunday and Monday off before wrapping up camp with a practice on Tuesday.

Taking advantage of turnover opportunities

With a big part of Saban’s offensive philosophy being to maximize explosive plays and minimize turnovers, it’s no surprise that a big part of his defensive philosophy is to take advantage of those opportunities.

“We’re trying to get guys to be aware of turnover opportunities, whether it’s to cause a fumble, create a fumble, strip a ball, certainly be able to break on the ball and make the judgment on whether they can intercept it,” he said.

“Turnovers are a big part of playing winning football, on both sides of the ball. You don’t like to have missed opportunities, because you don’t get that many. If you get a chance to catch one, you need to be able to do it.”