Just because the Alabama football team’s fall camp is over that doesn’t mean the tone of practices is about to dramatically change.
Senior linebacker Dillon Lee said making it through the final scrimmage does not mean the players are done working. He said the defense plans to focus more on defensive fundamentals because raising the number of turnovers it gets is always important.
“I don’t think – you know, how ever many [turnovers] it is – it’s ever enough,” he said. “We can always do better.”
Lee has been able to play both inside and outside linebacker this year. He said he is always trying to improve.
“There’s always something to learn,” Lee said.
Junior wide receiver Chris Black said practice will not change too much. He said the team will still come out and practice hard each and every day but now, things are starting to become more focused on who the next opponent is: Wisconsin. Recently Black has been limited those practices due to an ankle injury.
“It was very frustrating,” Black said. “Just watching those guys who go out there and compete and put in a lot of work and I’m having to sit back and watch, but I did the most that I could to try and get those guys up and kind of motivate them.”
Black said the secondary has improved. He said that freshman Marlon Humphrey and sophomore Tony Brown have done really well and made lots of plays throughout the fall camp.
After Saturday’s scrimmage, Black is feeling good about how he’s back to playing. He said he had four to five deep ball catches during the scrimmage. Who will throw those passes to Black once the season begins remains unknown.
Black said that they are prepared for anyone to fill those shoes. During camp, the wide receivers took reps from each of potential quarterbacks. Although, as player, he keeps it in the black of his mind how close the first game is, it’s still the coach’s decision.
“When he makes that decision, we’ll go with it,” Black said.
Competition also continues at the wide receiver spot, but Black doesn’t look at it that way. With other players such as ArDarius Stewart, Robert Foster, Calvin Ridley and Richard Mullaney, Black said they all help each other out and try to make each other better. During the season, he doesn’t think it would hurt the team if they were to change them in and out. Instead, it would probably get them more plays in the end.
Lee said something that has noticeably improved from last year is special teams.
“I think last year we kind of had a down year on special teams, especially in the return game on kick return and punt return,” he said. “We’re really looking to improve in those areas and flip the field position and get higher in the return category.”
Black might be able to help the team accomplish some of its goals on special teams. He said he is taking reps throughout practices with kick returns and punt returns.
“If [there’s] a game that comes and it’s my turn to take on that role, I will,” he said.
