Saban won’t rest Tua against Citadel

Alabama coach Nick Saban yesterday said he has no plans to hold out quarterback Tua Tagovailoa this week against The Citadel.

Tagovailoa has been bothered by a right knee injury in recent weeks and left Saturday’s 24-0 win against Mississippi State game after getting hit on it. The Citadel is a huge underdog on Saturday, but Saban said Tagovailoa is “OK” and will practice.

“No. Why would we do that?” Saban said when asked if he would rest the Heisman Trophy favorite. “I mean, to say this was not an important game or he doesn’t need to play? I think we need to do a better job of the people playing around him, doing what they’re supposed to do so he doesn’t get hit. And he needs to do a better job of stepping up in the pocket and getting rid of the ball, which he had several opportunities to do.

“Some of these hits could be avoided by better execution, and I think that’s what we’re going to focus on, not trying to take a guy out of the game so he can’t improve or do what he needs to do to get better.”

Tagovailoa sat out the fourth quarter against No. 25 Mississippi State and was sacked four times in the game. Saban said afterward the quarterback could have returned if needed.

Backup Jalen Hurts hasn’t played in the past two games after sustaining an ankle injury against Tennessee, leaving Mac Jones to get more playing time and chances in practice.

“Jalen’s day to day. He’s definitely getting better,” Saban said.