Former Alabama QB AJ McCarron: Team lacks 'true leaders'
Former Alabama and current Cincinnati Bengals quarterback A.J. McCarron said on an Alabama radio show that the Crimson Tide lack the "true leaders" the team had last year.
The Tide lost 23-17 to Ole Miss on Saturday.
"I think one of the things that this team is lacking that hurts them the most is not having the true leaders like we had last year and guys that, when things go bad, 'Hey, let's calm everybody down, pick it back up and go back to work and get back on the right track,'" McCarron said on 99.1 FM, according to AL.com.
He also said head coach Nick Saban has a tendency to “handcuff” his offensive coordinators and suggested that was the case with Lane Kiffin during Alabama's most recent loss.
The offense had only 396 yards of total offense against Ole Miss after averaging 594 yards a game through its first four games this season.
“I don't know if that's Lane doing that or if coach Saban is kind of putting the handcuffs on Lane like I've known Coach to do in the past on his offensive coordinator and we're going to be very bland and run this play and do this and we'll throw it on third down if we have to," McCarron said.
McCarron, who won two national championships with Alabama, went 36-4 as a starter in his time at the school. The quarterback says he will be interested to see what Alabama does when they play Arkansas on Saturday.
McCarron was the ninth quarterback taken in the 2014 NFL draft by the Bengals. He has been on the injured list with a shoulder ailment and will be eligible to practice with the team after the sixth week of the season.
- Scooby Axson
