Jones said he thought Sylve handled his struggles well after practice on Monday.
“At corner, you have to have a short play memory because you’re out there on an island by yourself against some of the best receivers in the country, so you’re going to have some plays made on you if you play long enough,” Jones said. “I think he definitely handled it well and kept on moving forward and kept being a competitor.”
Jackson returns to the team after tearing his ACL during spring practice. When Jackson sustained his injury, he had been practicing with the first team. Coach Nick Saban hinted at Jackson’s return to the defense in his Monday afternoon press conference.
“Eddie Jackson, we’re going to probably start investing some reps in Eddie Jackson this week,” Saban said. “We’ll see whether we think he can play or not. He thinks he can play, thinks he’s ready to play, thinks he’s ready to go. Doc’s cleared him to go so we just haven’t invested the reps with him with the ones and the twos. If you do that and a guy can’t play, then that’s somebody else you could have repped that didn’t get the reps that is now going to play in the game. We’re going to start investing some reps in him and then we’ll decide later in the week whether we think he’s OK to go or not.”
Junior defensive back Geno Smith also joined the first team, replacing the injured Jarrick Williams at Star. Williams will be out four weeks after post-game X-rays showed a fracture in his foot.
“Jarrick being out is definitely going to affect us in some way,” Jones said. “But I think the young guys we have will step up, but I don’t really know too many details.”
Saban mentioned both Maurice Smith and Geno Smith as possible replacements for Williams. Geno Smith was backup at the Star position during Saturday’s win over West Virginia, recording one solo tackle and two assisted tackles. Geno Smith sprained his knee during preseason practice but only missed a week of practice.
Geno Smith had transitioned from cornerback to safety for the 2013 season, mostly playing as a reserve free safety. In the 2013 season, he recorded 10 tackles and four pass breakups.
Practice notes:
-The team was scheduled to practice outside but a storm rolled in as ?practice started so it was moved inside.
-Former Alabama and NFL running back Bobby Humphrey was in attendance to watch his son, Marlon, practice.
