Alabama Crimson Tide news and notes from Wednesday and Thursday, August 20th and 21st.
Kalen DeBoer updates injuries of Jam Miller, James Smith, and Jaeden Roberts
After practice on Thursday, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer provided injury updates on three pivotal Crimson Tide players: RB Jam Miller, OG Jaeden Roberts, and DT James Smith.
According to DeBoer, Miller will miss at least the first game of the season in Tallahassee against Florida State, and possibly more. They consider the senior RB week-to-week for now.
For Smith, the junior DT is back to practice, which signals that he should be healthy and ready to play next week against Florida State.
The news was less positive on Roberts. The senior guard remains in concussion protocol and is not participating in practice right now. With just eight days remaining until the season opener, it looks more and more likely that, even if Roberts is healthy enough to play, he probably won't start.
Freshman CB Dijon Lee earns high praise from DC Kane Wommack
Freshman CB Dijon Lee has been the talk of campus since he enrolled in January. Despite Alabama returning both of its starting CBs from last season, Lee is pushing for serious playing time in his first season in Tuscaloosa.
According to Kane Wommack, Lee is already considered a starter. Zabien Brown and Domani Jackson are still likely to be listed as starters, but it has become clear that Lee is going to play a big role as a true freshman.
5-star Alabama commit EJ Crowell suspended for ridiculous reason
5-star Alabama RB commitment EJ Crowell will miss Jackson High School's season opener against Saraland on Friday night. The clue-chip RB was issued a self-imposed one-game suspension by his high school to avoid the possibility of a much longer one. Crowell was alleged to have violated the AHSAA's amateurism policy by "accepting a gift."
As it turns out, that gift was a car being loaned to him for three weeks by his godfather. The AHSAA continues to be a deeply unserious organization.
Alabama names its four permanent captains for the 2025 season
Alabama voted for its team captains for the 2025 season. The four who will lead the team - and will ultimately have their hand and footprints forever enshrined at Denny Chimes - are QB Ty Simpson, C Parker Brailsford, DT Tim Keenan III, and LB Deontae Lawson.
For Lawson, he's a team captain for the second consecutive season, becoming just the 11th player in Alabama history to be honored at Denny Chimes for a second consecutive season.
The SEC announces it will move to nine league games beginning in 2026
In big news on Thursday evening, the SEC announced that it will officially move to nine league games beginning with the 2026 season. It also announced that all league teams will be required to play an additional power four out-of-conference matchup each season, against a team from the Big Ten, ACC, Big 12, or Notre Dame.
Alabama already has two power four out-of-conference opponents on the schedule every year between now and 2034. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, Greg Byrne looks to do to potentially reduce that number now that the SEC expanded the league schedule.