Nick Saban Addresses Status of LB Quandarrius Robinson
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Three weeks to the day since the announcement of Alabama linebacker Quandarrius Robinson's indefinite suspension, Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban elaborated on the sophomore's appearance on the field last Saturday against Florida.
Robinson was arrested and charged for driving under the influence in the early morning of Aug. 29. He was involved in a three-car accident near the University of Alabama campus and was taken into custody by Tuscaloosa Police. According to public records, Robinson was later released after his bond of $1,000 was posted.
While he missed the first two games of the season after Saban announced Robinson's suspension on Aug. 30, the young linebacker traveled with the team this past weekend to serve as the team's backup long snapper.
“It was our sort of goal to suspend a guy for two games, which we did,” Saban said during his press conference on Monday morning. “He is going through a counseling program and a lot of other things here to sort of enable him to learn from making a bad choice — bad decision that actually can put other people in danger so we want to make him aware of that. Also, help him to grow and develop as a person.
"He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do so we allowed him to come back for this game and the fact that we have a couple of guys on our team that can be backup long snappers, he happens to be one of them — Major Tennison is the other one — but he was injured and out for the game so it was good timing for us to get Q back.”
It is unknown whether or not Robinson will return to his normal position of linebacker or if he will be kept at backup long snapper for the time being.
When Saban announced Robinson's suspension in late August, the Crimson Tide head coach also noted that Robinson would undergo evaluation as well as the team's standard protocols for alcohol- and drug-related violations.
Robinson primarily serves as the Crimson Tide's backup outside linebacker and hails from Jackson-Olin High School in Birmingham. Last season, he did not see any playing time for the Crimson Tide. He is listed as a sophomore on the official roster, but is technically a redshirt freshman since he did not play last season.
Out of high school, Robinson was a unanimous top-80 prospect in the country and one of the top overall recruits from the state of Alabama in the class of 2020. He chose the Crimson Tide over Auburn, Florida, LSU and Tennessee.
