Alabama football had a standard Tuesday practice in full pads outside today before its homecoming game against Missouri on Saturday. Weather here is a bit overcast and still warm but far from some of the heat we got last month.

Here are some observations from the open period:

  • Since one of you texted me about it specifically to ask: Tua Tagovailoa was wearing a brace on his right knee at practice. Pictures from Saturday’s game show he wasn’t wearing one at the start (and I don’t think he’s worn one in other games or practices) but put it on later in the game. I doubt that it’s time to panic. He was going through warm-ups like every other quarterback and wasn’t listed on Nick Saban’s injury report yesterday.
  • The only difference I saw with Tua was that during a very early warm-up, he was standing up to throw the ball rather than kneeling. We’ll check on this again tomorrow but it doesn’t seem like anything significant at the moment.
  • Got a look at the nickel package today, which had Saivion Smith in for Trevon Diggs at cornerback. That was the only change. The other player with the starters were the same: Patrick Surtain Jr. at corner, Shyheim Carter at star, Deionte Thompson and Xavier McKinney at safety.
  • Some shuffling on the offensive line during the open period, though I don’t think it was anything major either. Chris Owens was taking snaps at center with Jonah Williams and Lester Cotton on the left side and Josh Casher at right guard for a bit. Emil Ekiyor was taking snaps at center with the second team line later.
  • Starting center Ross Pierschbacher was taking snaps with Scott Lashley at left tackle and Deonte Brown at left guard briefly, before going back to the first team. Probably just a case of wanting to rotate guys in to practice what they’d need to do in case of an injury but we’ll take a look at it again tomorrow. Remember, Pierschbacher was just named SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week and had the highest grade of any player on the line.

Back with the final practice notes of the week this time tomorrow. See you all then.

 

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