The Wednesday-night news of Alabama receiver JoJo Earle’s fractured foot wasn’t quite the desired headline to end Day seven of preseason practice.
At a position that lost 74% of the yardage production from last season, nobody was taken for granted this August -- especially Earle.
The sophomore who Nick Saban boldly compared to Jaylen Waddle a year ago was having a particularly good preseason, Saban said.
“Probably the best he has been on a consistent basis,” the coach said. “Just saw a guy that grew up and was playing with a lot of confidence.”
The Jones fracture diagnosis isn’t exactly rare. Derrick Henry went down with the same injury last year with the Tennessee Titans while Alabama saw Mack Wilson (2018) and Jarrick Williams (2014) miss time with it.
The timeframe for a return was six to eight weeks, Saban said. The short end of that range would have him back by the Sept.
24 home date with Vanderbilt.Eight weeks? That would be the Texas A&M visit that’s circled on every college football calendar.
So, what’s the state of the Crimson Tide passing game in the meantime?
There are a few prongs to that as Bryce Young settles into a scheme in Year 2 with coordinator Bill O’Brien.
Saban previously mentioned Georgia transfer Jermaine Burton has been the most consistent player in camp. Then on Wednesday, he answered an open-ended question about the returning group of receivers.
“Ja’Corey Brooks is doing really well,” Saban said of the sophomore who is, statistically, the second-best returning wideout.
“Very competitive, smart, plays with a lot of toughness, very physical, doing a good. Has got really good hands. And all the other guys, they’re making progress.”
Junior Traeshon Holden’s 21 catches for 239 yards leads that group followed by Brooks’ 15 receptions for 192 yards, all but two coming in the final four games.
Earle was next on the stat sheet with 12 catches for 148 yards though a knee injury sidelined him for most of the final stretch.
Earle isn’t the only receiver currently sidelined by injury after Saban said freshman Aaron Anderson will miss a few weeks with a minor knee injury.
The highest-rated recruit among receivers enrolled early for spring practice, catching two passes for 11 yards in the A-Day game. Another newcomer, Kendrick Law, also impressed with four catches for 30 yards in the spring game.
The first scrimmage of August is coming Saturday in a moment Saban said will be huge for the receivers, young and old.
“Sometimes you gotta let the players play,” Saban said. “So when we go to a scrimmage, we’ll see what they know. We’ll see how they do. How much confidence they play with and that’ll go a long way for us to make an evaluation of is this guy, where is he in his development relative to being ready to play winning football for us.”
A new weapon in the passing game is also expected to be a big part of the rushing attack. Jahmyr Gibbs’ pass-catching ability has been the buzz of the preseason, adding another dimension to the downfield potential.
O’Brien showed his willingness to involve running backs as Brian Robinson’s 35 catches were fourth-most on the team. Jase McClellan had 10 catches in the five games before his season-ending knee injury.
Gibbs had 36 catches for 470 yards last year at Georgia Tech on top of the 746 rushing yards on 143 attempts.
“Trying to run with him, it’s different,” Alabama All-American linebacker Will Anderson said. “He’s like a little wide receiver sometimes. But he’s great. I love playing with him.”
Saban said it’s essentially an iron-sharpens-iron situation with Gibbs’ receiving threat helping Tide linebackers like Anderson and Henry To’o To’o.
“Jahmyr Gibbs plays at a different speed. He breaks contain on the defense, that’s good for the defense,” Saban said. “So when we play against a good back that has great speed, you know, maybe we can keep the leverage on him better.
So it not only helps Henry, it probably helps everybody on the defensive team, and I think it helps every position that players get challenged in practice, and they have to do things correctly and create good habits so they have the best chance to be successful in a game.”
Saturday’s first full-speed dress rehearsal of August won’t play out for the nation to watch but it should provide a few answers for how Alabama’s depth chart will evolve as Sept. 3 and the Utah State opener nears.