Alabama continued practice today with its first day of work in New Orleans. The Crimson Tide practiced at the Superdome while Clemson was at Tulane.
- New defensive assistant coach Pete Golding was at practice today. He was watching Jeremy Pruitt and the inside linebackers when I saw them. He was off to the side, not doing any coaching.
- I did not see Dylan Moses (foot) or Hootie Jones (knee). Both are expected to be out for the game.
- Terrell Lewis, Christian Miller and Mack Wilson were all at practice and appeared to be working out. They’re expected to play.
- Left guard Ross Pierschbacher (high ankle sprain) and guard/center J.C. Hassenauer both were dressed and participating. Hassenauer was practicing at center with the third team but I’d still expect him to be the top sub if something happened to a starting guard.
- LaBryan Ray (foot) was practicing with the defensive line.
- Damien Harris had a light brace on his left wrist but was still going through drills during the open portion of practice. Minkah Fitzpatrick had a strap on his left hamstring but was also practicing.
- The inside linebackers went through drills led by Rashaan Evans and Mack Wilson. Vandarius Cowan, Markail Benton and Keith Holcombe followed in that order. Jeremy Pruitt is here and will speak with the media tomorrow.
- Shaun Dion Hamilton and Miller Forristall (both have knee injuries) were present but just riding exercise bikes. They’re obviously out as well. Defensive back Nigel Knott was in a black jersey and didn’t appear to be practicing during the open portion.
- The first part of practice after stretching was the “ball out” drill. DBs were trying to strip the ball out from receivers and linebackers were trying to take the ball away from running backs. That’s become a staple of Alabama’s practices.
- It looked like there were maybe a dozen high school coaches from the area as well who were checking out practice. Stuff like that can help build relationships for recruiting.
That’s all for today. No open portion of practice tomorrow, so there won’t be any practice notes. We’ll be back on Saturday.
