Nick Saban Addresses Injuries Along Offensive Line Following Second Spring Scrimmage
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Following Alabama football's second scrimmage of the spring inside Bryant-Denny Stadium, Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban revealed that junior offensive lineman Evan Neal and sophomore offensive lineman Javion Cohen both suffered injuries.
Cohen's was a bone spur and he's expected to be back on Tuesday, while Saban offered no specifics on Neal's. Cohen had been playing at one of the guard spots, while Neal is slated to replace Alex Leatherwood's spot at left tackle.
Redshirt junior Emil Ekiyor Jr. was already slated to miss the entire spring due to a previous injury.
"We had a lot of guys out today so sometimes when you evaluate what happened — Evan Neal went out of the scrimmage. Emil was already out. Cohen has a bone spur," Saban said. "He'll probably be able to go again on Tuesday but he couldn't go today. So we've got three guys that aren't playing. So it really is kind of hard to eval some of the offensive linemen. We did run the ball more effectively today. And I think we made some explosive plays. But we also had too many negative plays offensively. I think Bryce (Young) played well again."
The only experienced offensive linemen from a season ago are Neal, Ekiyor and redshirt-senior Chris Owens after three starters in Deonte Brown, Landon Dickerson and Leatherwood are off preparing for the 2021 NFL draft.
Throughout the spring, the Crimson Tide's offensive line has been shuffled consistently and, when everyone is back healthy, Saban is confident that this group can reach its potential.
"I think if we got everybody back in the offensive line and we got everybody healthy, I think we would have a pretty good group," Saban said. "But with the guys that are out being out and moving guys around, I think that really kind of — I wish it wasn’t that way, but we have to manage the situation and the circumstance that we’re in. And the experience that these guys are getting at multiple positions will be benefit them in the long run because we’ll go into next year with more guys being able to play more spots.”
