Alabama Crimson Tide news and notes from Monday and Tuesday, August 24th and 25th.
Injury updates on 5-star safety Jireh Edwares and other banged-up Alabama players
Alabama got some good news on 5-star safety Jireh Edwards on Tuesday. While Edwards had to undergo a surgical procedure to repair an arm injury, there's optimism that he's going to return to action early in the season. While Alabama has plenty of depth in the safety room, the freshman had been a standout in fall camp, positioning himself for some legitimate playing time in year one.
5-star CB Jorden Edmonds sent his own calming message to Alabama fans on Monday night by sharing a post on his Instagram account that said "back real soon." Edmonds suffered an injury ahead of Alabama's first scrimmage of fall camp two weeks ago. It's not expected to be a long-term issue, but he is expected to miss a few games.
NC State transfer WR Noah Rogers returned to practice on Sunday, and while he's still expected to miss the first part of the season, Kalen DeBoer noted on Monday that Rogers was way ahead of schedule from the expectations when he first got hurt back in the spring.
There was no update on DL Jeremiah Beaman, who suffered what is feared to be a long-term injury during practice on Sunday. DeBoer didn't elaborate on the issue during his Monday press conference, stating they would find out the severity on Tuesday. If they did, they didn't share that publicly. Kane Wommack is slated to talk to the media after Wednesday's practice, and hopefully he'll have an update then.
Austin Mack has handled losing the QB battle to Keelon Russell exceptionally well
Austin Mack was undoubtedly disappointed to lose out in Alabama's QB competition this fall, but he's handled the situation with the grace you'd hope to see from one of the team's veteran leaders. DeBoer noted that Mack was one of the first players to show up at the facility on Sunday, just a day after the QB announcement was officially made.
Mack gives Alabama the luxury of having one of the top backup quarterbacks in the country in 2026.
Ryan Grubb offers praise for sophomore TE Marshall Pritchett
Marshall Pritchett looks set for a significant role for the Alabama offense in his sophomore season. Grubb noted after Tuesday's practice that the entire TE room has been outstanding in camp, but made sure to single out the performance and growth of Pritchett.
"The playmaker part in Marshall is he’s a weapon out there," Grubb said. "He can truly block and then expand the outside, getting a mismatch on a safety and really play ball."
Alabama''s TE room is one of the strongest position groups on the whole team, and that's going to pay dividends in both the run and pass game.
Alabama's starting offensive line is nearly set
Alabama is close to figuring out its starting five on the offensive line. Heading into camp, three positions were already sorted out with LT Jackson Lloyd, C Racin Delgatty, and RG Michael Carroll. Now, the battles at LG and RT are coming into focus.
Both DeBoer and Grubb noted this week that Mississippi State transfer Javyin James has been taking the majority of reps at right tackle, though Texas transfer Nick Brooks is still rotating in some. It's a safe bet at this point that James is going to be the starter at RT for Week 1.
At LG, the competition appears to be ongoing. It looked like sophomore Mal Waldrep had a stranglehold on the job, but now healthy, Will Sanders is making a significant push. Those two have been in heavy rotation at the spot, and who ends up winning the job and starting against East Carolina 10 days from now is anybody's guess at this point.
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