Alabama Football: Business as usual in fall camp session No. 4

Another day of fall camp for Alabama football and no matter what swirls outside the program, inside it is always business as usual.

The Alabama football team is still acclimating in Tuscaloosa. Day four of fall camp was the last practice without full pads. The team worked in shorts and shoulder pads. As the heat index inched toward 100 degrees, there was plenty of sweat, but no complaints about the heat.

Giving notice to enduring is not part of the Alabama football process. Endure means to suffer patiently. Alabama football does not endure, it resists and overcomes. The heat is beyond individual control so it is not to be acknowledged. If it was too hot for player safety, the practice would have been moved inside. There was no need for that Tuesday afternoon as the Alabama Crimson Tide went about its business as usual.

Business as usual

Business as usual for Alabama football is being impervious to outside clamor. The college football world loves a Crimson Tide controversy. Some Alabama football fans choose to join in. To the extent there is a quarterback controversy, do not presume it will sow serious dissension among the team.

Many more guys than Jalen and Tua are fighting for starting roles in fall camp. Not one of them will be happy to end up second. If Nick Saban could mandate it, the word starter would never be used. He would reluctantly accept that at every position, some player lines up there first in a game. The Crimson Tide organizational charts indicate first, second and third units but Saban believes they should always be fluid.

Locker room leaders as important as field leaders

It is no surprise when Damien Harris, Ross Piersbacher and Christian Miller were asked about the QB situation on Tuesday, they shrugged it off as not a big deal. They are smart guys. They know they (and all the regulars) must work every day to hold on to their jobs. Focusing on who does or does not start at QB is of no value to them. They also know the team must and will guard against dissension.

Make no mistake, all teams deal with some level of internal dissension. Alabama football is not immune. Much of it is handled by the more experienced locker room leaders. More than anything it is driven by the natural competitive fire of high aspirations. Again, business as usual.

What happened on the practice field?

•  There was no indication of any change with the quarterbacks. Tuesday was also Jalen’s twentieth birthday.
• Josh Jacobs continues to be limited, coming back from his ankle surgery. Whether he can be full speed by game one is not known. Jacobs battled a hamstring injury last season and played with a broken ankle more than half of the season.
• Sophomore Chris Allen again worked as an inside linebacker.
• Tevita Musika is built like a jumbo-sized fire hydrant. At 334 pounds, he does not look like a player that needs to shed weight. Terrance Cody was a two-time All-American for Alabama football. Not saying Musika will be an All-American but put 2009 Cody on the 2018 roster and Musika might beat him out for playing time. Which just shows how much the game has changed.

Alabama football returns to the practice field Wednesday afternoon. Nick Saban will meet with the media following the practice.