On Sunday, Alabama welcomed fans to come out for Fan Day and watch the team’s only open practice of the year.
The first 11 offensive players to take the field against the defense consisted of Cooper Bateman at quarterback, Bo Scarbrough at running back, O.J. Howard and Hale Hentges at tight end, Calvin Ridley and ArDarius Stewart at wide receiver, Cam Robinson at left tackle, Lester Cotton at left guard, Ross Pierschbacher at center, Bradley Bozeman at right guard, and Jonah Williams at right tackle.
The opposing defense consisted of defensive backs Ronnie Harrison and Eddie Jackson in as safeties and Minkah Fitzpatrick and Marlon Humphrey in as cornerbacks. The front seven consisted of Jonathan Allen, Da’Ron Payne, Dalvin Tomlinson playing on the defensive line supported by linebackers Tim Williams, Reuben Foster, Rashaan Evans and Ryan Anderson.
Additional Practice Notes:
- The quarterbacks mostly operated in the order of Bateman, Blake Barnett, Jalen Hurts, and David Cornwell. No quarterback particularly stood out, though Hurts and Bateman had several good throws deep. Hurts threw the only interception observed in the practice.
- During drills where the offense and defense faced off, the quarterbacks struggled at points. Hurts overthrew several receivers, Bateman had a few low throws, and overall very few deep passes were completed. In terms of overall athleticism Hurts and Barnett seemed to make the most plays with their feet while Bateman and Cornwell remained in the pocket on a vast majority of the time.
- Diggs caught a touchdown pass from Barnett near the end of practice and also spent time playing as a safety.
- Ridley made several great catches against coverage, including a deep play and a sideline grab.
- Receivers Ridley and ArDarius Stewart were the first pair up when the team worked on returning kicks. They were followed by running backs Xavian Marks working with Harris, and defensive back Deionte Thompson working with receiver Trevon Diggs respectively.
- Near the end of practice, defensive back Rogria Lewis left on a cart with an apparent injury.
Earlier in the practice, players broke up and worked through drills by position:
- Foster led a line of inside linebackers through these and he was followed by Rashaan Evans, Shaun Dion Hamilton, Keith Holcombe, Keaton Anderson, Joshua McMillon, Ben Davis and Mack Wilson.
- Defensive backs were led through early coverage drills by Eddie Jackson and Hootie Jones in the safeties’ line while Humphrey and Fitzpatrick led the corners..
- Scarbrough, Harris, Joshua Jacobs and B.J. Emmons were the first four running backs in line on Sunday.
- Wide receivers were primarily led during drills by Ridley, Stewart, Robert Foster, Gehrig Dieter, and Derek Kief.