Alabama Crimson Tide News: Jam Miller injured, scrimmage intel, recruit shuts it down

Alabama Crimson Tide news and notes from the weekend of Jun 15th through 17th:

Jam Miller suffers injury, expected to miss multiple games

The biggest news of the weekend came in the form of an unfortunate injury. Alabama starting RB Jam Miller suffered an injury during the Crimson Tide's second and final scrimmage of fall camp. While it isn't season-ending, Miller is expected to miss multiple games with the current hope being that he will be back in time for Alabama's SEC opener against Georgia at the end of September.

Miller had separated himself in fall camp as the clear-cut RB1, but Alabama does have quality depth at the RB position. Richard Young and Daniel Hill are ready for their turns, and Louisiana transfer Dre Washington brings much-needed experience to the backfield that will be invaluable, especially now that Miller will be out a little while.

Following Saturday's scrimmage, Kalen DeBoer also mentioned that RG Jaeden Roberts is currently in concussion protocol and missed his second straight scrimmage as a result. Alabama is healthy for the most part, but those are two substantial injuries for Alabama right out of the gate.

More intel from Alabama's 2nd scrimmage of fall camp

Here are a few notes from what I heard from a few people who were in attendance for Saturday's scrimmage:

• Ty Simpson had another strong scrimmage. Simpson reportedly completed 14-of-15 pass attempts with a long touchdown pass to Ryan Williams, along with a rushing touchdown on a nice scamper. Simpson has done all he can to earn the confidence of the coaches, his teammates, and the Crimson Tide fanbase. Now it's just about executing when the lights are bright.
• Ryan Williams made several contested catches during the scrimmage and continues to trend toward a monster sophomore season. No surprises there.
• The offensive line had some struggles with procedural penalties during the scrimmage. Take a drink if you've heard that one before.
• Redshirt freshman OLB Noah Carter had a strong day and is trending toward a bigger role than many realize. Carter is part of a deep stable of Wolf LBs at the disposal of DC Kane Wommack. He's had a good camp.
• Freshman CB Dijon Lee saw a lot of action during the scrimmage with the first team defense. Alabama has four starting-caliber corners with last year's returning starters Domani Jackson and Zabien Brown to go along with Lee and Utah transfer Cam Calhoun. I would expect significant rotation at corner this season to keep everyone fresh.
• The kindest way to describe Alabama's kicking situation at this moment: adventurous.

A couple of recruiting notes on 5-star prospects

As expected, Alabama is not giving up in the recruitment of 5-star EDGE Anthony 'Tank' Jones despite his commitment to Oregon at the end of July. The Crimson Tide will continue to pursue Jones, hoping the closer it gets to the early signing period, the more difficult it will be for him to want to go so far away from home.

Alabama will work to get Jones back on campus for a gameday visit sometime this fall.

In other 5-star news, safety Jireh Edwards, who committed to Alabama back on July 5th, announced over the weekend that his recruitment was officially shut down. He's locked in with the Crimson Tide.

Paul Finebaum's ridiculous Keelon Russell take

It only took a few days for someone to cue up the Keelon Russell transfer talk following Ty Simpson being named as the Alabama starting QB. Of course that someone was Paul Finebaum, who loves nothing more in this world than he loves to stir the pot and drumming up controversy.

Russell's freshman season at Alabama hasn't even started yet, but this conversation has already started. Finebaum believes that Russell will transfer after the season if he doesn't play this year. Finebaum is not operating with any inside information at all. He's just giving his opinion, one that isn't based on any type of reality.

Maybe Russell ultimately leaves Alabama after the season. Maybe he doesn't. Who knows. But wouldn't it be nice to not have that conversation already?

Texans trade John Metchie to the Eagles

The Philadelphia Crimson Tide continues to get more powerful. On Sunday, the Houston Texans traded former Alabama WR John Metchie to the Eagles, reuniting him with DeVonta Smith. Smith and Metchie were the two leading receivers for Alabama's 2020 National Championship team. Metchie stepped up in a huge way that season following the injury to Jaylen Waddle.

The trade now gives the Eagles nine former Alabama players on their current roster.

Metchie missed his first NFL season in 2022 as he battled Leukemia. In the past two seasons, he has produced 40 catches for 412 yards, scoring his first and only NFL touchdown last season against the Detroit Lions.