The pause was noticeable as was the frustration. During a Monday Zoom call with reporters, Will Anderson Jr. was asked if there was a moment or meeting he had with his fellow teammates following Alabama’s 41-38 loss to Texas A&M.
For 11 seconds, the starting outside linebacker shook his head in silence before responding.
"I mean, what I’ve said to you guys,” Anderson began. “You know, we have to do a better job. Football has to be the most important thing. That’s the biggest thing when you come to Alabama, that’s the standard. Football is the most important thing, and that’s what I expressed to the team. And that’s what it has to be, and it’s going to be that."
Three weeks ago, Anderson stood in front of the camera and delivered a similar speech after Alabama narrowly avoided an upset during a 31-29 victory at Florida. Monday, the sophomore said that message must not have been taken to heart by his teammates.
“I don’t think it was taken seriously,” Anderson said. “I mean, as you can see, after Florida, which was a close game, we end up losing this game… I think together as a team we really just have to focus. I think that’s the biggest thing. I just feel like as if it’s really nothing else other teams are doing. I just think it’s just us, we’re in our own way right now.”
Following this weekend’s loss, Nick Saban spoke about the importance of his players remembering the disappointment they felt walking off of the field at Texas A&M. The head coach previously warned his team about not having respect for winning and said he hoped the upset in College Station, Texas would serve a lesson moving forward.
According to Anderson, that message is now beginning to sink in inside the locker room.
“I think this morning with workouts, you know everybody came in with high intensity,” Anderson said. “We know that feeling now, and we have to move past that feeling to get ready for Mississippi State. And you know, everybody’s holding their head up high. We’re just going to keep moving forward and keep getting better.”
Still, actions speak louder than words.
Anderson spoke several times Monday about correcting some of the little details from this weekend’s defeat. Alabama’s pass rush failed to record a sack or a quarterback hurry against a Texas A&M offensive line that had allowed a combined six sacks over during losses to Arkansas and Mississippi State the previous two weeks.
That resulted in Aggies quarterback Zach Calzada completing 21 of 31 passes for a career-high 285 yards and three touchdowns with an interception as the redshirt sophomore completed six of his final eight passes on Texas A&M’s final two drives.
“I think the game plan they had, they executed it very well,” Anderson said. “I think they did a good job up front. I think just going forward, I think as a D-line and as linebackers, we need to watch film together more and we need to just realize our pass-rush lanes and how we can get to the quarterback more and be more effective so he doesn’t have all day in the pocket.”
Anderson and Alabama will have to improve this week as they go up against a Mississippi State team that beat Texas A&M two weeks ago. The Bulldogs’ Air Raid offense ranks No. 5 in the nation, averaging 372.4 yards per game through the air through five games.
“You know, the biggest thing is we’ve gotta bounce back,” Anderson said. “We’ve gotta regain focus, pay attention to the little details. We all got to come together and sit down, we all have to be on the same page and realize that this is the most important thing right now.”
No. 5 Alabama (5-1, 2-1 in the SEC) will travel to Mississippi State (3-2, 1-1) for a 6 p.m. CT kickoff on Saturday. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.
