Alabama Football: After poor practice Nick Saban not happy

For the Alabama football team, Wednesday was not a good day. Nick Saban was not happy with the practice from an attention to detail standpoint. Should Crimson Tide fans be concerned? It was just one practice and Saban said the players had done well on Tuesday.

Still, any November (and December and January) session with a less than fully focused Alabama football team is inconsistent with championship aspirations. It is true the Crimson Tide controls its own destiny. Not clear, with rock-solid assurance, is whether the Crimson Tide is up to the task. On the basis of talent advantages, Alabama Football should beat Arkansas on Saturday and Auburn in the Iron Bowl.

After those two games comes the big challenge. In what will likely be its toughest game of the season, being sure of making the Playoffs, requires beating Georgia. Georgia is beatable. The Bulldogs are also very good in areas that will stress the Crimson Tide’s greatest weaknesses.

On Wednesday, as reported by Charlie Potter, Saban said,

"Yesterday (practice) was OK. Today, we’ve got a lot of guys that had the ‘poor me’s, whatever that means. You get into your feelings and you don’t do things the way you need to do them to have success, and when you get that way, you don’t create good habits."

Nick Saban has long used the ‘poor me’s as a description for unfocused players, not paying attention to detail and not giving full effort. How many players Saban was talking about is not known and no specific players were named. At another point in the practice review, Saban complimented the seniors, so it is a fair guess the ‘poor me’s’ were coming from younger players.

At the core, Saban’s comment was a message to his players. The Alabama Football head coach often uses public statements to get the attention of some players. The question for Crimson Tide fans is why – at this point of the season, with so much riding on every game – would any Tide players not be dialed in completely. Jumping to a conclusion would be a mistake, but it does make fans wonder if enough of this year’s Crimson Tide have the qualities to be champions.

Alabama Football Player Updates

• Darrian Dalcourt and Javion Cohen have practiced this week and should be ready for Saturday.
• Damieon George Jr. could take over the starting right tackle slot this week. With a Dalcourt return, that would make Chris Owens the odd man out.
• Behind Brian Robinson Jr. and Trey Sanders, RB3 remains undetermined.

Saturday’s matchup will feature an Arkansas defense that is very good on third down (1st in the SEC and No. 8 in the FBS). Arkansas’ opponents have converted less than 31% of third downs, while the Crimson Tide leads the nation with a conversion rate of almost 57%.