Everything Kalen DeBoer Said About Alabama's Second Fall Scrimmage

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer spoke to the media after Thursday's second and final scrimmage of fall camp.

Here's everything he had to say from the media room inside Bryant-Denny Stadium:

Full transcript

Opening statement

"Just finished about a little over a 90-play scrimmage. About 80 plays with the ones and twos, finished up with some threes. Good work in all areas of the field. So, just probably the general feel, I think, of the week would be that we made a lot of progress. I felt like we consistently get better. There's no drop-offs, and that's what I want to see. We still got some big weeks ahead.

"I think that it was this time a year ago where we did continue to take those strides, so that'll be the challenge moving forward. But some good stuff to learn from.

“Love having the officials out there. We were much cleaner, especially pre-snap in this scrimmage than what we were last scrimmage, and even in the week of practice. So, it was good to see that. But just getting their input and interpretations on some things, it's good to have the officials out there.

“A lot of the guys that you'd expect, I think, are doing a good job. And managing the scrimmage, you don't see it all, but there's a lot of guys, I think, that you'd expect, the starters in particular, that I think just consistently do their thing. And so, some guys that I'm sure you'll ask about that are behind them, that are pushing for spots. So, we got some competition still going at a number of places, and that's healthy for our football team. But I thought today was a really good day.”

On the quarterback competition... Is Alabama ready to name a starter?

"I think that, again, looking at the whole thing. Of course, it does matter when you get to a scrimmage. And we scrimmage literally every day, to some extent, in practice — moving the ball, playing the situations. And so, today was just more of that, and you kind of get a pretty good idea. But stepping inside of Bryant-Denny, kind of the day is really devoted to a scrimmage. So, what do yougot? It is important to perform at your best on a day like today.“I think it’s just been consistent. I think when I say pre-snap, it is everyone. But I think a lot of that starts with the quarterback, right? How he comes in the huddle. I think they’re clean with the command and calls and getting to the line of scrimmage. I would say this, I think pre-snap, any checks, I felt like theywere on it onanother level than what they were a week ago, which is what you’d expect. And we made a note of that, and they’ve improved on that drastically. More than anything, getting us out of bad calls and bad looks. And that’s a big part of the quarterback’s job, and then executing the play.“So, we’ll work through it here this weekend, see where we’re at, and just continue to discuss it as a coaching staff.”

Did the offense start faster and cut down on turnovers?

"I think we had one turnover. Might be wrong on that. I’m pretty sure it was just one on the day. And just, again, intentionality is what I love to see. And last week, the defense, intentionality on the energy, not just starting, but how they were at the end was really important to them. And that was really tied to a scrimmage scenario and situation we had earlier before Scrimmage 1, where they dropped off. And we made note of that.

“And then that was kind of the offense's job now to make sure that they address the areas where we fell short, and I thought they did that. I think they came out and moved the ball down the field early and consistently. It starts, again, with just getting to the line scrimmage and your operation there. Everyone breaking a huddle, and all it takes is one guy going to a wrong position, and now, the quarterback's trying to get that corrected. So, less of that all week in practice, and I think you saw that today.

“So, the offense, I thought, did a much better job. You can see that they're honing in on the things that they do well. There's always areas that are weaknesses across the team that we need to continue to work on. The one thing about offensive football is you get to kind of decide what you want to do and what your identity is. And so, I think we're really doing a good job with the last four practices of working in that manner.”

On injuries...

"Injuries, as far as guys that are still out, EJ (Crowell) did not scrimmage. And I would expect him — we’re really hopeful that sometime next week, he’s coming back to step on the football field to practice. I would put Lotzeir (Brooks) in the same category — did not scrimmage today. Nick Sherman did suffer an injury today, and he’ll be evaluated for a lower-extremity injury. And so, that was it as far as any injuries that happened in the practice today.”

How ready is Trae'Shawn Brown to contribute early?

"I just really think that Trae'Shawn, especially going into camp that's the question, you just feel more and more comfortable with him out there," DeBoer said. "Honestly, I felt pretty good about him as a ball carrier based on what we saw this spring. You're just always working on ball security and things like that at the college level, but he's really adapted well. And then it just leads into pass protections and any checks the quarterbacks make, and you can see he's a smart guy. It matters to him.

"He's definitely not noticable in a bad way out there. He's going there, making plays and continuing to progress. I think EJ was heading that way too, so it'll be good to get him back out there on the field."

Is there any separation between Austin Mack and Keelon Russell?

"I mean, depends on what you’re looking at. Again, we look at them just moving the ball down the field. Both of them - I’d have to look exactly the drive charts - they flipped so much between ones and twos. They’re doing - We can go win with either one of them. I feel very comfortable with that. Obviously, we got to pick one, and we will, we will pick one, and we’ll continue working through that here in the days ahead."

On the competition at kicker between Conor Talty and Lorcan Quinn...

"Yeah, I think both of them - I think are very, very talented. And I think Conor’s really built a lot of momentum through the oﬀseason, especially since the summer. Lorcann, you can see what he’s got as far as leg strength, you know, whether it’s field goals, kickoﬀs, and just maturity. And so he responds and battles back. There is going to be adversity; you are not going to be perfect as a kicker. So a lot of it is like, what does it look like the next kick? You know, what’s your response going to be? And so it’s a strong competition right now. I mean, it’s a battle."

On the offensive communication...

"A lot of it ends up just not just how you break, but when you get to the line of scrimmage, what that urgency communication all of it is what it feels like. And, you can almost anticipate that a play’s going to be executed well by how it sounds with with the line talking how they break the huddle. You can just see there’s more and more confidence. I would just say, generally speaking, this week you are not having busts like we would have week one. You are seeing a gel; you are seeing now you are seeing holes open up for the running backs to run through, and we broke down what an explosive run play is and what it takes at the beginning of fall camp. And that’s, you know, the yards you get before contact. That’s making a missed tackle, you know? And so, you know, there is a formula to that when you play the percentages. And I think you are seeing more and more of that happen, but it starts all up front with the oﬀensive line. The protection, I think, was ahead of the run game early in camp. I would have said, I think, last week that I like the direction we were going. I think this week the run game has continued to improve. I think we had really - as a team - I think we had four really good practices this week; yesterday was more of a walkthrough."

On Derek Meadows and Rico Scott with Lotzeir Brooks out...

"Yeah, Meadows got a lot more opportunities today, and that’s a lot of times what it comes to. I thought Rico two days ago really took advantage of some balls that came his way - made a lot of nice plays. They’re both very trustworthy with everything. And you know, the responsibilities - It’s not about that - now It’s about going out, using your athleticism to go make plays. But I thought Derek - And again, a lot of it’s because of the opportunities you get- he got more opportunities today than most of the receiving corps. And it was - I thought today was a really good growth day for him. Competitive catches in particular, so you know, using that big body to go up and make some plays. You are not going to catch them all - ball placement, the defender you’re going against - but I like the way he’s battling, and he’s really growing."

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