Saban says he'd be 'surprised' to see injured DB return this season
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Hopes of Trevon Diggs returning this season were all but squashed Wednesday as head coach Nick Saban said the injured defensive back will be out for “an extended period of time” with a broken foot he sustained last week against Arkansas.
“What he has is going to take a while,” Saban said. “I would be surprised if he will be able to come back by the end of the season.”
Diggs started every game at cornerback while moving to Star when the defense played out of its dime package. He led the team with six pass breakups while also tallying 20 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble. The junior is the third member of Alabama’s secondary to suffer a season-ending injury, joining sophomore safety Daniel Wright (shoulder) and freshman cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis (knee).
“It’s going to be challenging. We’re obviously very thin,” Saban said Monday. “We need some other guys to step up and develop, and the next guy up has got to take the challenge and play well for us.”
During practice this week, junior college transfer Saivion Smith replaced Diggs at corner out of the nickel package while Shyheim Carter filled in for him at Star in the dime package. Alabama also has less experienced options in freshman Josh Jobe and redshirt sophomore Nigel Knott, who both practiced with at cornerback with the second-team defense.
“It’s different guys. We lost six guys last year to graduation. We’ve got three guys who were in the two-deep that aren’t there anymore. So that’s nine guys,” Saban said. “We only have so many guys. So we do the best what we got, and we got to work to get a lot of guys better and it's really challenging for us. We’re looking forward to the challenge, and we’re going to have to go from there. We’ve got some guys who have an opportunity, and hopefully, they look at the opportunity in a positive way and do things that they need to do to be able to contribute to the team.”
Alabama will have little time to lick its wounds as it faces a Missouri team that ranks No. 9 in total offense with 530 yards per game, including an average of 318.4 yards through the air.
Missouri is facing injury problems of its own as head coach Barry Odom announced Wednesday that receivers Emanuel Hall and Nate Brown won’t be available to play against Alabama. Hall leads Missouri with 18 receptions for 430 yards and three touchdowns. Brown has 13 receptions for 129 yards. Still, the Tigers feature one of the best quarterbacks in the SEC in Drew Lock, who has completed 59.9 percent of his passes for 1,487 yards and 11 touchdowns with four interceptions through five games.
"They have a prolific offense. Drew Lock is hands down one of the best quarterbacks in the nation, if not the best,” safety Deionte Thompson said. “The way that he can get the ball out of his hands is very fast. The way they move, they average a play every six seconds after the ball is snapped. They average the most plays in college football. It's going to be a fast-paced game. We have to get lined down, get the call, communicate and be ready to play.”
Kickoff for Saturday’s game is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT. The matchup will serve as Alabama’s homecoming game.
Saban gives updates on Tagovailoa and Cotton
Saban also gave updates on quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and starting left guard Lester Cotton. Tagovailoa has been wearing a brace on his right knee during practice this week, while Cotton did not participate with the rest of the offensive line during Wednesday’s viewing period.
“Tua’s taken every rep in practice. He does have sprained knee,” Saban said. “We did put a brace on him just to protect him, but he’s been able to do all the work in practice, so that’s not an issue.
“Lester Cotton sprained his ankle. It’s a mild ankle sprain. Hopefully, he’ll be able to get back to practice tomorrow, and we’ll be fine.”
Cotton was replaced by redshirt sophomore Deonte Brown on the first-team offensive line.