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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Alabama picked up more injury concerns at the quarterback position as head coach Nick Saban announced Monday that backup Jalen Hurts suffered a high-ankle sprain against Tennessee and will be out of practice this week. According to Saban, Hurts suffered the injury during a 21-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
“Jalen actually twisted his ankle when he scored a touchdown. He stayed in the game, nobody really knew anything about it,” Saban said before speaking to the Monday Morning Quarterback Club in Birmingham. “It was was a bit of a high-ankle sprain, and they did a minor procedure to try and help the healing.
“I think he’ll be out for one week, probably this week, this bye week and he’ll probably be able to be ready to start working again next week. It will be a medical decision as to how fast he can come back, but we’ve had other players have a similar situation and be able to recover fairly quickly.”
Hurts completed 2 of 3 passes for 21 yards and an interception while also picking up 24 yards and a touchdown on two carries against Tennessee. Through eight games, the junior has completed 73.6 percent of his passes for 589 yards and five touchdowns with two interceptions. He has also carried the ball 28 times for 136 yards and a touchdown.
Starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has played the past two games with a brace after spraining his right knee against Arkansas. The sophomore left the game against Tennessee after taking a big hit from Volunteers linebacker Daniel Bituli shortly after throwing a 41-yard touchdown pass. However, he said he was “fine” following the game.
Saban was also asked about the status of wide receiver DeVonta Smith, who missed last week with a hamstring injury. The head coach did not give a direct update, instead stating that “All the guys that have been injured, we’re not pushing this week.”
No. 1 Alabama is off this week before traveling to No. 4 LSU on Nov. 3. Kickoff for the game will be at 7 p.m. CT on CBS.
“I guess with the bye week coming up, everybody wants to know how you’re going to manage the bye,” Saban said. “I think the first thing you’ve got to do is define what is a bye week. You obviously want your players to get healthy, want them to get some rest, want them to get their strength back, hydrate, do all those things. You also want them to focus on improving, so that means when we are practicing everybody’s got to challenge themselves to sort of improve and do the things they need to do to get better.
“You kind of get remembered for what you do in November in this league, especially the way our schedule comes out. I think it’s really important and imperative that the players have that right mindset and they’re not just [thinking] the bye means ‘I’m checking out for the week.’ I don’t think you can create any momentum that way either individually or collectively as a team.”
