Alabama’s Sanders out indefinitely with injury
Alabama’s first preseason football scrimmage Saturday afternoon inside Bryant-Denny Stadium did not include fivestar running back Trey Sanders.
It will be a while before Crimson Tide fans can see him in action.
“Trey Sanders didn’t scrimmage today because he had a foot injury that will require surgery,” coach Nick Saban said in a news conference that followed the 135-play scrimmage that lasted in excess of two hours. “He will be out indefinitely.”
AL.com reported that Sanders sustained the setback during Thursday night’s practice and that he will miss the entire season.
The 6-foot, 214-pounder was the No. 6 player nationally in the 2019 signing class, according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings. Sanders is from Port Saint Joe, Florida, but played at IMG Academy in Bradenton, where he averaged 8.5 yards per carry for his career.
His position coach at IMG was Cadillac Williams, the former Auburn running back who is now Auburn’s running backs coach.
Sanders was expected to contribute sooner rather than later for the Crimson Tide given that Damien Harris and Josh Jacobs from last year’s backfield are now in the NFL. Junior Najee Harris tops Alabama’s depth chart, with junior Brian Robinson and redshirt freshman Jerome Ford likely next in line.
Saban said Ford had the most yards and the most carries Saturday.
Another touted freshman, defensive lineman DJ Dale, has a much better prognosis following a knee injury this past
week that forced him to sit out Saturday.
“He’ll probably be back in a week or so,” Saban said.
Alabama couldn’t escape the injury bug during the scrimmage, either, as fifthyear senior linebacker Joshua McMillon failed to finish. McMillon has been working inside on the first team along with preseason All-America candidate Dylan Moses.
“The guy who is most concerning that they have to do some research on is Josh McMillon,” Saban said. “He had a potential knee injury today, so we’ll have to see what that is.”
The Crimson Tide will take today off and resume practice Monday.
Moses was held out of Saturday’s scrimmage, as were tight end Miller Forristall, offensive tackle Matt Womack and defensive lineman LaBryan Ray.
As for those who did play, backup quarterback Mac Jones fared well in Saban’s eyes. Jones entered preseason camp as the second-teamer behind Tua Tagovailoa and is trying to repel charges from freshmen Taulia Tagovailoa and Paul Tyson.
“Mac had a really good day today,” Saban said. “He had a high completion percentage and threw for some big plays. I thought he did a really good job of trying to lead the team when he was in there.”
Saban also praised kickers Joseph Bulovas and Will Reichard, who is a true freshman.