Alabama TE Josh Cuevas suffered an injury in practice last week that kept him out of Alabama's home win over Eastern Illinois on Saturday. The injury was initially reported as something that would almost certainly cause him to miss the Iron Bowl as well.
Or maybe not.
During his normal Monday press conference, Kalen DeBoer was non-committal on ruling Cuevas out of the game this early. When asked about Cuevas' status, DeBoer told reporters that Alabama would "keep evaluating him throughout this week."
Cuevas was wearing a walking boot during Saturday's game. The initial rumor was that he had broken his foot, but that may not be the case if his status isn't completely clear at this point. That could be a bit of gamesmanship by DeBoer, too, during Iron Bowl week.
Alabama will have to release an Availability Report on Wednesday night, which will give us the best indicator of whether there's a realistic possibility of Cuevas being able to play at Jordan-Hare this weekend.
Josh Cuevas is not officially ruled out for the Iron Bowl yet
Cuevas is a major piece of the puzzle for the Crimson Tide's offense. He's Alabama's fourth-leading receiver on the year, putting up 341 yards on 30 receptions with four touchdowns.
He had his best game of the season two weeks ago against Oklahoma, producing six catches for 80 yards and a touchdown.
If Cuevas is unable to play, Alabama's top two options at tight end might be true freshmen.
Kaleb Edwards has seen action in all 11 of Alabama's games this season. He started his third game of the season against Eastern Illinois and has proven himself as a reliable target and a solid blocker. His game is not as refined as Cuevas', but he has a ridiculously high ceiling.
Alabama made it a point to get Marshall Pritchett involved in the offensive game plan against Eastern Illinois, likely to see how he might hold up with that kind of workload. He could be called upon for some critical snaps during the Iron Bowl.
Troy transfer Brody Dalton provides some experience that could prove to be vital as well, though he's not nearly the threat as a pass-catcher as Cuevas or the two true freshmen.
Best-case scenario is that Cuevas is able to go, but if he's not, then the youngsters are going to have to step up in the biggest game of the season.