Injured Drew Sanders to miss Alabama's game at Mississippi State
Alabama’s pass rush won’t get a reinforcement over the weekend. During his Wednesday Zoom call with reporters, Nick Saban provided an update on Drew Sanders, stating the starting outside linebacker is still dealing with a hand injury that kept him out of last week's game at Texas A&M.
“He’s not available this week,” Saban said. “He’s out there in pads every day, but it’s not safe for him to use his hand yet, so he’s not going to play this week.”
Sanders took on the starting role at Sam linebacker after Christopher Allen suffered a season-ending foot injury during the opener against Miami. Over five games, Sanders has recorded 20 tackles, including one for a loss. He also has four quarterback hurries and two pass breakups.
With Sanders out against Texas A&M, Dallas Turner took on the starting duties at Sam linebacker for Alabama. The five-star freshman recorded five stops, including one for a loss against the Aggies.
“Dallas did a really good job,” starting outside linebacker Will Anderson Jr. said. “He stepped up, he played a role in a big game — on the road at that — at Texas Texas A&M. So I mean he filled that role pretty well, I’m very proud of him.
“He was getting the calls. He was doing some freshman things out there, but overall I think he did a great job stepping up and filling that role in that type of environment and for his first game starting.”
Despite Turner’s efforts, Alabama’s pass rush struggled against Texas A&M. The Tide failed to record a sack or a quarterback hurry against the Aggies, allowing quarterback Zach Calzada to throw for a career-high 285 yards and three touchdowns while pulling off the upset.
“I think just going forward, I think as a D-line and as linebackers, we need to watch film together more,” Anderson, “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.”
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 on ESPN.
