Nick Saban offered a bit of mixed news Wednesday night as he provided an injury update on three Alabama defenders. According to the head coach, defensive lineman Byron Young (shoulder) is likely to feature during this weekend’s game against Tennessee while outside linebacker Drew Sanders (hand) is doubtful. Saban also stated that safety DeMarcco Hellams has been dealing with an ankle injury since fall camp.
Young left last week’s game against Mississippi State in the fourth quarter. After making a trip to the injury tent, the junior emerged without pads and a wrap on his right shoulder. Young has appeared in seven of Alabama’s games, making starts against Mercer and Florida. The 6-foot-3, 292-pound defender is second on the team with seven tackles for a loss and has also recorded two sacks.
“Byron Young has practiced, he practiced today,” Saban said Wednesday. “You know, we’re hopeful that he’ll be able to contribute some in the game.”
Sanders has missed Alabama’s last two games due to a hand injury. The sophomore took over the starting role at Sam linebacker after Christopher Allen suffered a season-ending foot injury during the opener against Miami. Through five games, Sanders has 20 total stops, including one for a loss with four quarterback hurries and two pass breakups.
While Saban said Sanders is “probably very doubtful for this game," he is optimistic about getting the 6-foot-5, 244-pound edge rusher back following Alabama’s open week next week.
“It just depends,” Saban said. “You know, they’ve got to re X-ray his wrist and make sure everything is OK in there. We’re hopeful that he’s back for LSU.”
Hellams missed the opener against Miami but has played in Alabama’s last six games, starting all of them except last week’s win over Mississippi State where he saw a season-low 15 snaps. He is tied for the team lead with two interceptions and has also recorded 38 tackles. Wednesday, Saban explained the lessened workload against Mississippi State as a precautionary measure.
“DeMarcco’s been struggling with kind of a lingering ankle injury all the way back from fall camp,” Saban said. “He’s been a warrior all year long, fighting through this, battling in practice, overcoming adversity anyway that he could, doing everything he could to help the team. But I also think that if he can’t play 100% in some circumstances that we should try to protect him and give him an opportunity to have a chance to get back to 100% which we tried to cut down his reps the last couple of weeks.
“We still have every confidence in him playing in the game, and he will play in the game. He may even start in the game because we view him as a starter.”
No. 4 Alabama (6-1, 3-1 in the SEC) will host Tennessee (4-3, 2-2) on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN.
