Alabama Football: Last Spring Practice Update

Xzavier Dickson will miss the A-Day game and may have surgery on his patellar tendon. Most patellar tendon surgeries are relatively minor affairs, and there’s room for optimism that Dickson will be around when practice starts back up in August. Injuries are bad—you heard it hear first—but like the injury to Derrick Henry, the timing on this one is excellent.

On the injuries are bad front, the first two-three weeks of spring training were virtually injury-free—but things have taken a nose-dive recently. Henry is recovering from surgery and Dickson may be soon. Trey DePriest’s stress fracture will probably be treated with rest. Wilson Love has missed the last two weeks with a concussion. Alec Morris still has the heavy bandage on his right foot, but appears to be participating in all drills.

There is some good injury news: Kevin Norwood ran with the trainers for the first time today. John Fulton did that two weeks or more ago, is running group drills in a black jersey, and is all but healthy. And in meh injury news, C.J. Mosley, DeAndrew White, Jalston Fowler and Dee Hart will finish the spring as they began it: in black, but participating in all drills.

Cooper Bateman is said to have progressed nicely after a shaky start. Bateman joined A.J. McCarron, Blake Sims and Alec Morris as the quarterbacks who were mentioned in Saban’s press conference after the second scrimmage. About the only quarterback I haven’t heard anything at all about this spring is Phillip Ely. And we may not, as Saban told the press today that we have too many quarterbacks to look at them all on A-Day.

Saban revealed that Adam Griffith and Cade Foster are still battling for the place-kicker role, that AJ McCarron’s arm strength is improving, and that AJ and C.J. Mosley are stepping forward as leaders. Saban also said that President Obama showed him an empty drawer in the White House on Monday and said he might as well stow a toothbrush there for next time.

Oh wait. I made that last one up.