Alabama injuries continue to pile up with 5-star Jireh Edwards going down

Fall camp has come at a price for Kalen DeBoer and Alabama, with numerous players falling to various injuries. Before Monday, that included guys like AK Dear, EJ Crowell, Lotzeir Brooks, Jorden Edmonds, Nick Sherman, and Jeremiah Beaman, with some issues more serious than others.

On Monday, Alabama's NIL collective - Yea-Alabama - announced that 5-star freshman safety Jireh Edwards went down during practice and will undergo surgery that will keep him out for a significant period of time. While the injury is not expected to be season-ending, it's going to cost Edwards a good bit of time:

5-star freshman safety Jireh Edwards suffered an upper arm injury that will require surgery

Even in a crowded secondary, Edwards had positioned himself for a role as a freshman. Kane Wommack recently raved about Edwards, citing his ability as a blitzer as something that had stood out and was likely going to lead him to playing time in some speciality packages.

"Jireh’s one of the most instinctive playmakers I’ve ever seen coming out of high school," Wommack said. "Very physical. He’s got phenomenal tracking of the ball. His blitz IQ and awareness is really high, and so he can create production out of that package as well.

"Really, for him, it’s about putting the whole thing together. Jireh’s gonna play for us, but how much does he play for us early in the season and then in what situations - those are the question marks that we’ve really kinda challenged him: can you put everything together so that we can throw you out there on any given down? He’s still working towards that.”

The good news is that if there's a position that Alabama can withstand some attrition, it's at safety. The Crimson Tide returns both starting safeties from last season in Bray Hubbard and Keon Sabb, and then has three other players in the room who are ready for expanded roles.

Zay Mincey, Ivan Taylor, and Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. are quality backups who would be no-brainer starters at quite a few programs. They all stood in the way of Edwards carving out a role, but all indications in camp had been that the freshman was earning some playing time.

This is an unfortunate setback for Edwards, but the good news is that the injury isn't expected to be season-ending. He should be able to get back at some point, though it might not be realistic for him to find much of a role once he returns after so much missed time.

We wish him a speedy - and full - recovery.

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