Alabama’s returning team captain is progressing well from his season-ending injury. During a Tuesday morning radio appearance on WNSP, Crimson Tide coordinator Kane Wommack provided a positive update on starting linebacker Deontae Lawson, who suffered a lower-body injury during Alabama’s loss at Oklahoma last November.

"He's a total pro,” Wommack said. “He's farther ahead than when most people are at this stage of his rehab. I'm excited to see as gets to do more and more things this summer and obviously to be able to go into fall camp and get himself healthy and ready. I'm excited for him."

Wommack’s update comes after head coach Kalen DeBoer told reporters earlier that Lawson has remained engaged with the team while recovering from his injury.

“Deontae is doing an amazing job while he’s been coming back from his injury of just being a leader, coaching, being engaged,” DeBoer said during a Team Focus charity event in Mobile, Alabama. “That’s hard to do. That’s harder than people realize. And he’s been right there in the middle of it all. This guy, he sleeps and breathes football. He’s all about Alabama, and he wants to leave this place on a high, not just for himself but the program. And so he’s been extremely engaged. We’ve had more talks this last couple months than we had time to do all last season, so that’s been really enjoyable on my end.”

Before suffering the injury, Lawson started in 11 games last season, recording 76 tackles, including 6.5 stops for a loss and a pair of sacks. The Mobile native also tallied four pass breakups, a forced fumble and an interception. Had it not been for his injury, Lawson would likely be preparing to hear his name called in this week’s NFL Draft. Instead, he elected to return to the Tide for a final season this year.

"I think it was a very hard decision and one that we didn't want to overstep because I wanted him to do what he felt he needed to do in terms of either staying or going on to the NFL," Wommack said. "But I think as I reflect on it, he made the right decision. I'm excited and focused on kind of trying to do what I can to maximize his opportunities for his last season."

Lawson did not participate in Alabama’s spring camp but is expected to be back to full health when the Tide begins preseason camp in August. He is one of three veterans in the Tide’s inside linebacking unit along with fellow redshirt senior Justin Jefferson and Colorado transfer Nikhai Hill-Green.

"D-Law is one of my favorite players I've ever gotten to coach," Wommack said. "His elite trait is to anticipate, diagnose and play the game right with instinct. He's a tremendous communicator. He's really my voice on the field and so I kind of work through him on the green dot communication that we started this past season like the NFL has had.

"I don't think there's a question that he makes the transition to the NFL next year. He can handle anything that you put on his shoulders mentally, physically and all of that."