Alabama senior RB Jam Miller just took a massive step toward being able to play on Saturday against Tennessee.
After initially being listed as questionable on the Crimson Tide's availability report on Wednesday, Miller's status was updated to probable on Thursday.
Miller suffered a concussion during the 4th quarter of the Crimson Tide's 27-24 win over Missouri last weekend. His status was very much up in the air in the aftermath, and it seemed like he was trending to be a game-time decision on Saturday.
Kalen DeBoer sounded optimistic about Miller's chances of playing during his radio show on Wednesday night. The senior RB clearly passed a major hurdle with the medical staff for his status to be updated on Thursday.
Jam Miller's status upgraded to "Probable" for Alabama vs. Tennessee
Despite missing the first three games of the year, Miller is the Crimson Tide's leading rusher. He's produced 267 yards on 4.4 yards per carry. He produced Alabama's first 100-yard rushing day by a running back in over a calendar year two weeks ago against Vanderbilt. He had over 80 rushing yards last week against Missouri.
Against a Tennessee defense that has struggled to stop the run, having Miller back is a huge boost for the Crimson Tide. The strength of the Vols' defense has been rushing the passer. They led the country in sacks-per-game, and they will try to heat up Ty Simpson to keep the redshirt junior from lighting up a secondary that has struggled.
The best way to combat that is to be able to run the football. The rushing stats against Mizzou weren't eye-popping, but with how poorly Alabama's offensive line protected Simpson, the ability to run the football at times helped keep Alabama's offense on schedule and was a big reason they escaped CoMo with a win.
There were two other changes to Alabama's availability report on Thursday night.
Sophomore WR Jaylen Mbakwe, who was also listed as questionable on Wednesday, was upgraded to probable alongside Miller. With Derek Meadows out with a concussion and Ryan Williams less than 100%, Mbakwe could have a role on Saturday.
One addition to the availability report that wasn't good news is TE Danny Lewis Jr. Lewis has been dealing with a nagging injury all season, and after making an impact a week ago against Missouri, Lewis is back on the injury report and officially listed as questionable.