How Ryan Coleman-Williams is Involved with Alabama Offense while Missing Practice

Alabama's leading receiver and team captain is dealing with multiple injuries, but he is still finding ways to encourage his teammates ahead of the Tennessee game.

Alabama wide receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams and running back Daniel Hill celebrate a touchdown in the first half of the game against Mississippi State on Oct 3, 2026. | Sarah Munzenmaier/Alabama Crimson Tide on SI

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer announced during his Monday press conference that there was a "pretty good chance" leading wide receiver and team captain Ryan Coleman-Williams would be unable to play in the Crimson Tide's road rivalry matchup at Tennessee this weekend.

Coleman-Williams has been dealing with a knee injury for a few weeks, but he also suffered a head injury in the second half of Saturday's loss when two Georgia defenders collided with him above the neck.

Despite dealing with the injuries, Coleman-Williams leads Alabama in receiving yards (415) and touchdowns (four.) Sophomore Lotzeir Brooks is right behind him though with 23 catches for 389 yards.

"He helped me a lot," Brooks said after Tuesday's practice. "Ryan, he’s always talking to me, always checking in on me. I’m always checking in on him. He’s always just telling me how I gotta be a leader, and I’ve just got to make a difference with the other guys.”

Brooks said it will "be a little while" before Coleman-Williams is able to return. Wide receivers coach Derrick Nix has been telling his position group that it's all about the next man up.

"We just gotta play for him, can’t harp on it," Brooks said. "Gotta go 1-0 and keep playing and get ready for next game.”

Coleman-Williams can't be at practice right now as he is recovering from the injuries, but he's still finding a way to be a leader and encourage his teammates.

"He always texts us before we go to practice, always gives us a little speech before practice, and I just appreciate him," Brooks said.

His message before Tuesday's practice: be honed in on the day. Whatever get's thrown at you, be ready.

Without Coleman-Williams, Brooks and RIco Scott will likely see an even bigger role with Derek Meadows, Cederian Morgan and Noah Rogers all having the opportunity for more reps. Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said he "feels great" about the receiver depth.

"We’ve got a group of really competitive players," Grubb said. "Noah's really progressing. We think he's really pretty close to 100% now. And Derek Meadows is showing up, he made a nice play at the end of the game there, obviously. So we're lucky to have that many guys. Cederian does a great job backing up Lotzeir and has shown up in a couple different scenarios. So we got guys that are fighting for reps and ready to go. You look at a guy like Rico and where he was at last year at this time, and how he's starting to step up into his role.

“So I think for guys on the offense, for our team in general, we've been talking about this offensively for a long time, that it's not if, it's when, and the spotlight's going to find multiple guys on this football team. It'll continue to do that. That's an SEC football season. There's going to be injuries. There's going to be guys that have to overcome moments, and guys that are going to have to switch positions. And you know, we feel really confident that we got guys that can step into those roles, and especially in the wide receiver room — we’re deep.”

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Twitter/X, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok for the latest Alabama news.