Kalen DeBoer, Alabama hoping to get several key players back at the perfect time with a tough schedule coming up
Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer gave an update on multiple injured players during the SEC Coaches Teleconference on Wednesday.
The Alabama Crimson Tide is getting closer to the meat of its schedule. This Saturday, Kalen DeBoer and company will welcome Wisconsin to Bryant-Denny Stadium for an SEC-Big Ten showdown. Then, it’s a bye week before opening up SEC play against the Georgia Bulldogs on the road in Athens.
The hope is for Alabama to get as close as it can to fully healthy, starting this weekend against the Badgers. Defensive lineman Jeremiah Beaman is obviously out for the season, but there are several other players who have missed time, including running back Jam Miller, wide receiver Ryan Williams, tight end Danny Lewis and defensive linemen Tim Keenan III and Jah-Marien Latham.
On Wednesday, DeBoer provided an update on those guys via the SEC Coaches Teleconference.
“Jah-Marian Latham and Jam Miller and TK are all game-time decisions,” DeBoer told reporters Wednesday. “They’re getting their work in and making some progress, so not much difference between all three of them even though they are all different injuries. Ryan Williams, we expect him to play. Danny Lewis will be out this weekend still, but is making progress.”
Why Alabama needs key players back
The list above is extensive.
Keenan was expected to be Alabama’s starting nose and top run defender, and the Crimson Tide have severely missed his 6-foot-2, 325-pound frame clogging lanes in the middle of its defense. Jam Miller was putting up a dominate fall camp en route to being the featured back on offense, but a dislocated collarbone sidelined him to start the season.
Lewis was pulled back out of the transfer portal after last season to be the team’s primary blocking/Y-tight end, but he’s been dealing with a lower-body injury since before fall camp even got underway. We all know what Williams was supposed to be for Alabama’s passing game, and Latham is another larger body on the defensive front who brings over six years and over 800 snaps of experience to the table.
In other words, they all matter.
We still don’t know who all will be available on Saturday. Yes, Williams is expected to be back, and we do know Lewis is likely to miss another game due to his injury. But the others are still unknown, but the good news is that they’re getting close. That couldn’t come at a better time either, as Alabama has a tough portion of its schedule coming up. Hopefully, these guys are back against Wisconsin, but if not, at least they’ll have the bye week to get prepared for Georgia.
