Alabama Football: Day One of LSU Preparation and Saban Comments

Monday Alabama football went to work on LSU. The Tide practiced outside in shorts. Saban made some interesting comments about LSU and the CFB Playoff.

The biggest news for Alabama football fans on Monday was Da’Shawn Hand and Josh Jacobs taking part in drills, not in black no-contact jerseys. Saban said they had been cleared to practice and described them both as ‘day-to-day’ as far as progress toward playing against LSU.

The past couple of weeks there have been rumblings that Brad Bozeman was not 100 percent healthy. Before Monday’s practice, Bozeman corrected that perception and stated he has no health or injury issues.

Several young Alabama players were identified in scout team roles of top LSU players. Noteworthy to Tide fans, true freshman, Chadarius Townsend has the scout team task of being D. J. Chark this week.  Chark has been the most explosive LSU player for most of the season. Townsend is in for a redshirt season but he too is dynamic and could become a future impact player for the Tide.

The highlight of Monday was Nick Saban responding to a media question about Tuesday night’s CFB Playoff rankings. Saban clearly welcomed the opportunity to take a strong position,

"You won’t see me wasting time watching TV … I could (not) care less about the poll. What significance does the poll have right now?All we’re talking about right here is the challenge of our season. Where are we going to be in the poll if we don’t play well in the next four games?"

Continued Legal Issues for Deionte Thompson

All was not well with Alabama football on Monday. It was announced redshirt sophomore Deionte Thompson has been indicted in Texas for an April brawl. Thomas, along with three others turned themselves into the police in April. All four are now facing a second-degree felony charge of aggravated assault.

The official position of Nick Saban and the University of Alabama released today was,

"We are continuing to follow the progress of the legal proceedings in this matter. We are not going to make any judgement until that process has been completed."

In August, al.com reported that Thompson’s lawyer contends the arrest was a situation of mistaken identity. To date, Thompson is not known to have received any punishment by the Alabama football program.

Next: Worth the risk - Minkah as Punt Returner?

Minkah Fitzpatrick said Monday that he did get some extra punt return reps during the bye week. Alabama football fans trust in Saban but we all remember last season when Eddie Jackson was lost to a punt return injury. Many believe that October injury ultimately cost the Tide a repeat national championship.