Alabama Football Fall Camp Injury Update
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — After a vague statement at the start of fall camp, Alabama head coach Nick Saban went into more details about the Crimson Tide's injury status at the beginning of fall camp.
Saban previously told reporters about Alabama's most notable injury in senior tight end Cameron Latu, but provided more clarification on Latu's status Sunday at media day.
"He has a minor knee injury,” Saban said. “He’s gonna be out a couple of weeks. I don’t know exactly how long that is. It happened about 10 days ago. These things usually go day-to-day.”
Sunday is also the lone time during the regular season that Alabama's coordinators speak to the media and offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien seemed optimistic about Latu's early progress from the injury.
"It's unfortunate what happened to him, but this is a guy that's just a great guy," O'Brien said about Latu. "He's in the training room that day working to get back. He's been in there it almost seems like 12 to 15 hours a day working hard to get back. So he'll be back at some point."
Latu is Alabama's leading returning tight end and statistical receiver after losing John Metchie and Jameson Williams off to the NFL. The tight end had 26 catches for 410 yards yards and eight touchdowns last season.
Outside of Latu, Robbie Ouzts is the only returning tight end with a catch. O'Brien is impressed with what he's seen out of Ouzts so far.
"Robbie Ouzts is somebody that's worked really hard to improve," O'Brien said. "And then Miles Kitselman, the junior college transfer that's come in, he's a hard working guy. He's getting used to the way we do things here, but I think he's a guy that is a solid player that can help us."
Saban also mentioned four freshmen that have been dealing with injuries and will miss some time in the coming weeks.
"We had [Isaiah] Hastings come in with an injury," Saban said. "We fixed it, and he should be back shortly probably. Elijah Pritchett tore his pec in the weight room a while back in the summer, so he’ll be out for a little while. Earl Little had a shoulder coming in that was bothering him, so we decided to fix it. He’ll be out for a little while, as well. Aaron Anderson has a little knee injury, but he’ll probably be back in a few weeks, as well."
Saban said those were all the players dealing with major injuries, and they are currently working on challenging them and the whole team to get better each and every day.
When addressing the wide receivers, Saban also briefly mentioned that Louisville transfer Tyler Harrell has been in and out some. He has been practicing with the team, but not at 100 percent.
The players were off on Sunday, but will head back to the practice fields on Monday for practice four of fall camp.
