Social media exploded on Wednesday night when Crimson Coverage noted that in the official practice footage released by Alabama, you catch a glimpse of sophomore RB AK Dear. What's notable is that Dear is not in a black, non-contact jersey. He's in his helmet and shells like everyone else, presumably going through the same drills as the rest of the running backs:
LOOK: Alabama RB AK Dear was spotted in today’s practice footage distributed by the University of Alabama. 👀
— Crimson Coverage (@CrimsonCoverage) September 2, 2026
Initial reports indicated that Dear would miss significant time after suffering an ankle injury. Following the injury, Dear underwent a tightrope surgery.
Now, just… pic.twitter.com/b0LUJotdOo
Some have pointed out that Alabama has two players with the number 0, but that's clearly Dear and not Yhonzae Pierre. Pierre is much bigger, and practice photos from Wednesday show us that the defensive players wore white while the offensive players wore crimson.
Just two and a half weeks ago, Dear underwent a tightrope procedure on his ankle after suffering a high ankle sprain during Alabama's first scrimmage of fall camp. The timeline for his recovery was reported to be six to eight weeks, meaning his earliest possible return would probably be the final weekend of September when Alabama faces South Carolina in Tuscaloosa.
But fans are excited about the prospect of a miraculous recovery for the sophomore RB who was having an outstanding fall camp before the injury. While it's great to see him back out there, that's about the right timeline for the procedure and doesn't really point to him getting back on the field any quicker than originally believed.
AK Dear is still likely to miss the first three games of the season for Alabama
Alabama fans will immediately point to the recovery of Tua Tagovailoa in 2019 as the benchmark. He underwent tightrope surgery after the Tennessee game that season, but was back three weeks later for the showdown against LSU.
But it's important to note that the recovery timeline for the procedure is very different for quarterbacks and running backs.
Tagovailoa wasn't going to be asked to do any explosive cutting. Dear will have to be able to do that to be effective at his position.
Dear is at the point in his recovery that he can start rebuilding the strength and even running and planting. But he's still a little bit away from being able to comfortably change direction, make lateral cuts, and explode from a dead stop. All of those things are critical for a running back, and your ankle obviously plays a massive role in your ability to do so.
Based on the normal timeline, it's not surprising to see Dear back out there on the practice field. He's progressing how he should.
But Alabama fans shouldn't get their hopes up that he's on the path to a miraculous recovery, either. He's not going to play this weekend against ECU or next weekend against Kentucky. He's probably not going to be back for the Florida State game, either. South Carolina at the end of September might be pushing it, too.
It's a long season. Alabama has to get through a nine-game league schedule. The RB room appears healthy outside of Dear, with EJ Crowell on track to play on Saturday. There's no reason to rush him. The Crimson Tide need him healthy down the stretch run of the season.
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