Saban provides injury updates on Will Reichard, D.J. Dale, Terrell Lewis

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Nick Saban provided an update on two freshman players who picked up injuries during Alabama’s 49-7 victory over Southern Miss on Saturday. Kicker Will Reichard left the game in the first quarter after injuring himself on an awkward kickoff that traveled 29 yards. Meanwhile, starting nose guard D.J. Dale had to be helped off the field after suffering a knee injury just before the half.

“Will Reichard has a pulled hip flexor, which as a kicker may be difficult for him to manage,” Saban said. “He did it on the kick that he sort of kicked the tee instead of kicking the ball. He may be questionable for this (next) game.”

“D.J. Dale I think is going to be OK. He had a little patellar tendon strain, but Doc thinks he may be OK. Hopefully, we get some guys back for this (next) game. We’ll just have to make day-to-day decisions during the course of the week as to how much they can practice.”

Reichard had been a do-it-all man on special teams. Through four games, the Hoover, Ala. native is 4 of 7 on field goals and 21 of 22 on extra points. He’s also recorded 21 touchbacks on kickoffs and has averaged 39.67 yards on three punts. Redshirt sophomore Joseph Bulovas replaced Reichard on extra point and kickoff duties Saturday, while sophomore Skyler DeLong handled punting duties.

Dale has started all four games for Alabama, tallying eight tackles, including 1.5 for a loss and one sack. He was replaced by senior Tevita Musika.

Saban also provided an update on Terrell Lewis, who sat out the game after hyperextending his knee against South Carolina last week. Lewis was able to return to last week’s game after going down in the third quarter but was limited during practice this week.

“It was a strategic decision that needed to get made relative to if they do a procedure that sort of helps the healing process now or wait until the bye week,” Saban explained after Saturday’s game. “We always are going to do things relative to what’s in the best interest of the player. We left it up to Terrell. He wanted to do it and try to get well as soon as possible. I would think by next Tuesday, we’re hopeful he’ll be able to be back in the swing of things and doing things the right way and be able to play next week. But it’s always going to be day-to-day in terms of how he responds to the treatment.”

Alabama (4-0, 1-0 in the SEC) will host Ole Miss (2-2, 1-0) next Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT.

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