TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama head coach Nick Saban announced DJ Dale and Jaheim Oatis will begin practicing this week as the Crimson Tide begins its preparation for No. 17 LSU.
"I think both guys are going to start back to practice this week," Saban said. "We will kind of determine how they do throughout the course of the week, and what their availability will be when the game comes."
Both players were held out of the Mississippi State game with Saban saying they were both "day-to-day" after Alabama's win against the Bulldogs. With Oatis and Dale out, Alabama played with four defensive linemen with Damon Payne and Jah-Marien Latham being worked in with Tim Smith and Jamil Burroughs.
Even with the limited depth along the defensive line, Alabama limited Mississippi State to 262 yards of total offense, its second-lowest total of the season.
Oatis and Dale will be welcome additions back to the defensive line group as Alabama will face a Tigers team that ranks fifth in scoring offense, tallying more than 35 points per game.
The duo split time at the nose guard position through the first seven games combining for 28 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and two quarterback hurries.
Alabama's open week came at an ideal time for both players as along with the two nose guards, Justin Eboigbe (neck) is most likely out for the season according to Saban. While the bye week is used to get players back healthy, Saban said it was also a time for the team to do some self-assessment with four games remaining in the regular season.
"We had a good work week last week," Saban said. "Really tried to emphasize with the players, what are you going to attach yourself to for the upcoming challenges for the rest of the season? It’s a great time to do a little self-assessment of what we need to do to get a little more consistent execution, whether it’s individual players – systematically, offense, defense, special teams. So we really need to come together as a team versus a good opponent. And that’s obviously going to be really important for this game versus LSU, who right now is probably playing as well as anybody in the country."
