Everything Kalen DeBoer Said After Alabama Football's First Fall Camp Scrimmage

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer spent time with reporters inside Bryant-Denny Stadium on Thursday after the program held a two-hour scrimmage. DeBoer spoke about the quarterback battle, the offensive line and gave injury updates for key skill position players.

Opening Statement

"Good to get out there, get in the stadium and have a scrimmage. We tried to make it as game-like as possible. Just a lot of new faces that need to make sure that that feels like that's our home place, our home turf. We even wore our game jerseys today, we didn't get to wear those in the spring, just outside factors.

But good to get the guys a lot of reps. The defense did a nice job coming out setting the tone. We could've executed a little bit better offensively, that led to a couple takeaways. That's great to see, because they were advantageous, guys making plays, you love to see that. And then the offense did a nice job of slowly responding, coming back and as the scrimmage went on it became very balanced.

So, just great learning moments. You always want to take from any practice, but a scrimmage is about as game like as we're going to get. So, a lot to learn from and I know we've got guys that are going to keep working."

How did the running backs look and any update on EJ Crowell and AK Dear?

"EJ did not scrimmage today. He'll be out for a few practices here. He won't miss any games down the road. So he did not practice today. AK did suffer an injury. He actually was having a nice scrimmage, scored a touchdown. We'll evaluate him and figure out what the severity of that. That was unfortunate because he was having a real nice scrimmage with the touches he got. So that's kind of the status on those two."

How did Austin Mack and Keelon Russell perform?

"As the scrimmage went on they both got better. Both had their moments early where they could have executed better. They could use some help from some guys once in a while, they’re not going to be perfect all the time. Operationally, I just think, again, it’s them running the show, but everyone doing their part. So the slow start really wasn't about one player, one position group, but both of them really , as the scrimmage went along, got in their rhythm. And so, the challenge to them now would just be starting faster every single time we have these game-like scrimmages and practices, coming out and setting the tone themselves. "

Did anyone besides AK Dear get hurt and how did the offensive line look?

"No one other than just normal football stuff injury-wise today, other than AK. And I thought, I mean, our defensive line does a nice job, the way that they play physically. There’s moments where there’s just matchups every single program in the country is going to have an issue with. And so there are times where that pops up. I thought pass protection, this has been a really good week. You can see every practice, they’re sort of understanding their assignments. They’re working together. The communication is there. Run-game wise,I feel like it improved as well. There’s some plays early where it’s really not their fault. It might look like it, but it’s not. And today’s scrimmage, that’s just stuff we’ve got to clean up. Again, getting numbers right and things like that. So it's been a steady improvement. That’s what we expect and that’s what we’ve got to have. So I like the direction it’s going, but then for the most part, with the ones, a consistency with who’s in the rotation, who’s getting the snap, and that’s really important. So our twos certainly gotta find their rhythm. There’s less continuity there. We got some young guys that are taking a lot of snaps."

Are you closer to naming a starting quarterback and how did Jayvin James look?

"I don’t feel closer with the quarterback answer. And with Jayvin, days like today are huge for him. And It’s making sure, just like for everyone, right, it’s about stacking play after play after play after play. And so, I think he’s done that more consistently throughout practice and fall camp, and I think he can become a complete player, so, you know, just getting better. He doesn’t have, like, glaring strengths, glaring weaknesses. He’s just a solid player that’s getting better in all facets of his game, and so, he’s working at it. You can see the commitment that he has with just some of his habits, things that are important to him that can help him be his best. That’s what we ask of a lot of our guys, but that’s certainly something you see him growing and understanding how that can impact his play when he gets on the ball field."

How did the inside linebackers play?

"Sometimes, from my vantage point, trying to run the whole show, I don't always see all the little details. Trying to make sure and manage everything from each sideline. I'm speaking more about the week of practice, probably not so much this scrimmage, Luke Metz is a guy I'd make a note of. The way he plays every snap as a young guy, he's getting better and better, as you'd expect. Caleb has been consistent and brings energy. He's got a lot of game experience. Other guys, again, Abduall Sanders has come along all week, takes a lot of snaps, is always in the right place, doing his job and brings energy as well. Guys are consistent. It's a group that obviously there's some names that we have in place from last year's team, but it's a group that I think has consistently performed. The communication starts with them. They're doing a good job there as well."

Is the cohesion coming along with the offensive line?

"The cohesion, I guess, one is communication and being on the same page, and just I think they're taking upon themselves with what they do in the meeting room, just the extra work that they're putting in. They understand that there's a lot of eyes on them, a lot of focus on them as far as you know what our team can be, and so they're going at it, accepting it, and continuing to improve every single day.

"Definitely not there yet, and it's going to be something where every day you're just trying to take those steps. There's things that they do really well, like there's stuff that we can go out there, we can execute with those guys and feel really good about it. Today, I think there's a little bit of focus on trying to do that so you can get a rhythm going. But also, when you have live moments like we have today, there's not many live days. There's half a dozen or so practices where we go full pads. Got to take advantage of the things that you can't see when you're not live, and letting them go do their thing there.

"So, in some of the situations, there's less reps that they've had. You can see the execution or lack of execution isn't quite there yet. But that's why we practice. You know, this is Practice 8. It's going to go fast, so there's urgency level that these guys are putting the pedal down every single day, working on becoming one. And again, there's been a lot of consistency with who's in the rotation, especially with the ones, and that's been important for our progress."

What were the points of emphasis going into the scrimmage?

"Discipline and Detail. We had more penalties today. We had a full officiating crew, which is really good to have called. Guys going downfield a little too soon, resulting in illegal man downfield, and what you really saw on both sides of the ball is that those penalties hurt our momentum. Defense might have the offense in an unfavorable down and distance, then have some type of penalty that you don't get called every day in practice. You don't have a full SEC crew, maybe not seeing everything, and so that was actually good. I consider that a positive. Rather learn those things now and go through those moments in a scrimmage like this.

"It's frustrating for each side of the ball to have those called, but we did a good job learning from that a year ago and becoming really the least penalized team in the conference. And so that's certainly been a focus. I've not taken that for granted. You got to work at it. You got to be intentional and conscious of making sure that doesn't happen."

Which position group stood out in the scrimmage?

"I mean, there's times we had a couple tipped balls, so the DBs did a nice job making a play because they're picking it right up off the ground and those plays aren't always made; it wasn't just gimmes. I thought there were some good plays where we had yards after the catch. I thought the running backs were chewing up some yards there and got better as the scrimmage went along, you know.

"So I think our D-line's just been really consistent. I don't want to take that for granted, so I should mention that. I have an expectation for them. I think that they've done a nice job. So I thought the tight ends, as the scrimmage went along, got better. So getting guys in every snap that we take, it matters, especially with the younger guys across the board on our football team."

Did any other players miss the scrimmage?

"Lotzeir missed a couple of practices and did not scrimmage today, and he'll be out for a few more practices. I don't expect him to miss any games or anything like that. He did not practice today."

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