It was noticed in the pregame for Alabama's season-opener on Saturday against East Carolina that three injured Tide players, RB AK Dear, S Jireh Edwards, and WR Noah Rogers, were dressed out and going through warm-ups. That seemed like a strong indication that all of their injury timelines might be accelerated, though obviously none of the trio played against the Pirates.
But all three continue to progress, and two of them appear close to getting back on the field soon. Kalen DeBoer was asked about the trio during his Monday media availability, and he offered the most positive outlook on both Dear and Edwards, with Rogers following closely behind.
“I think your guys that are the closest are Jireh and AK, and then Noah just down the road here just a little bit,” DeBoer said. “But wanted to get them out there, just keeping the progression and part of their transition back. But I think Jireh and AK, you can see here very soon."
AK Dear and Jireh Edwards appear to be close to making their 2026 season debuts
All three of those guys are clearly beating initial timelines. DeBoer has raved about Rogers' ability to battle back from what was initially thought to be an injury in the spring that would cost him the majority of the 2026 season. It's not out of the realm of possibility that he's back at the end of this month or early next month.
Dear went down with a high-ankle sprain during Alabama's first fall camp scrimmage, but he's already returned to practice. It remains to be seen how quickly he can get back to being comfortable jump-cutting and regaining his lateral agility, but he could be nearing a comeback sooner than expected, too. When the injury was announced, it was initially reported that the Week 4 matchup against South Carolina would be the earliest possibility for his return.
Alabama's rushing attack showed promising flashes against ECU without Dear. Daniel Hill looked improved, and the freshman duo of EJ Crowell and Trae'shawn Brown looked as advertised. Getting Dear back could raise it all up another level, as he was the player garnering the most praise in the RB room during fall camp before his injury.
As for Edwards, he underwent surgery to repair an arm injury suffered during practice just a couple of weeks ago, but he isn't expected to miss much more time, either. Alabama is deep at safety, but Edwards is a player who stood out during camp and was forcing his way onto the field as a true freshman. Kane Wommack said before the injury that he was a guy who was going to have a role on this team.
It might be overly optimistic to believe that either Dear or Edwards will be ready to go for Saturday's SEC opener against Kentucky in Lexington, but they're obviously close. Week 3's home matchup against Florida State might end up being a realistic target for both to make their 2026 season debuts.
We'll get a better indication of that on Wednesday evening. With Alabama facing an SEC opponent this week, it will have to release an official availability report. That will give us a good indication of where things stand.
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