Jumbo Package: Gump Day!

Alabama practice report: How injured players looked

-- Jalen Hurts was again out there throwing with the quarterbacks but was not doing any the drills requiring mobility. He’s still a little more than a week away from spraining his ankle at Tennessee and having surgery to help it.

-- Tua Tagovailoa continued to look fine with the sprained knee that was an issue the last two games. He said Monday everything was fine and he was doing all the drills in the limited media viewing period. When he was hurt, he wasn’t doing the drill where he threw from his knees but is back doing it again.

-- DeVonta Smith looked to be more mobile as he comes back from the hamstring injury. He was running short routes required of the drill we were able to see. He missed the Tennessee game and there haven’t been many updates to his status since. Nick Saban speaks Wednesday morning.

-- Deonte Brown looked to be working with the second group at left guard but I’d expect to see him rotating with Lester Cotton as that competition continues.

Your injury update from yesterday. Nothing really new to highlight, but no news is good news, I would say.

Meet ‘Cornbread,’ Alabama’s promising new left guard

“From the time I got his number, he’s been saved in my phone as that, as Cornbread,” said Bozeman, who is now with the Baltimore Ravens. “But, I mean, he’s more closer to a flatbread now.”

For a while, people around the Alabama program would describe Brown the same way: Man, he could be really good if he can ever get to a good point weight-wise.

He’s now done that.

Two years ago, the 6-foot-4 Brown arrived in Tuscaloosa weighing 400 pounds. Two years later, the Decatur native is down 70 pounds and may be the Crimson Tide’s long-term answer at left guard, a position that had been a consistent problem area for the Tide through the first half of the regular season.

I don’t know if I’d agree in saying that left guard has been a consistent problem. Lester Cotton has been a solid if not spectacular starter all season. But Brown played so well during his injury that we have a real competition on our hands, it would seem. Brown has flirted with a starting role the last few years, and is finally getting a chance to show his stuff on the field.

[ED. NOTE: For a closer look into Deonte Brown’s performance, check out DoctorWhosOnFirst’s Film Room Review]

A First-Year Starter, Quinnen Williams Already One of Alabama’s All-Time Best

Williams patterns himself after a blend of the three guys he watched the most while not playing. He wants to move like Allen, have the strength and power to take on double-teams and stop the run like Payne—a first-round pick of the Washington Redskins—and have the technique and hands of Dalvin Tomlinson, a second-round pick of the New York Giants.

”You can see flashes of everybody come out of me,” Williams said. “Looking up to those three guys helped me and my play tremendously.”

This is a really good piece from Bleacher Report on just how good Quinnen Williams has been this season and some good quotes from him and other Tide players. I won’t wax poetic too much on this one, just give it a click.

SEC football: Alabama’s receivers, LSU’s secondary provide marquee clash

Alabama has a dazzling aerial attack headed by quarterback Tua Tagovaolia and receivers Jerry Jeudy, DeVonta Smith, Henry Ruggs and Jaylen Waddle.

LSU possesses a stingy secondary led by safety Grant Delpit and cornerback Greedy Williams.

It will be strength versus strength Saturday night when the No. 1 Crimson Tide (8-0, 5-0 SEC) challenge the No. 4 Tigers (7-1, 4-1) in Baton Rouge. It’s also a showdown the two head coaches would love to admire if they weren’t so busy with their countless in-game decisions.

To be honest, it’s still weird seeing “Alabama” and “dazzling aerial attack” juxtaposed in a sentence together. The problem for LSU is that Alabama has 4 receivers who can score on any given reception, while the Tigers only have limited number of potentially elite defensive backs.

What Alabama players think about LSU, playing in Tiger Stadium

-- After noting the crowd surfing in the Kentucky locker room after beating Missouri, Harris was asked if Nick Saban would ever do the same after an Alabama win. “No,” he said as he walked off.

The day I see Saban crowd surfing is the day I die to this world forever.

Harris and crew also have quite a few quotes in this piece on their thought on the LSU atmosphere and the upcoming positional matchups. Deionte Thompson is particularly high on the Tiger receivers.

Packers trade safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix to Redskins

The Green Bay Packers have traded free safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix to the Washington Redskins for a 2019 fourth-round draft pick.

Clinton-Dix, 25, has been a starter since his rookie season in 2014, and he becomes an unrestricted free agent after this season. He was a first-round draft pick and made the Pro Bowl in 2016.

The Redskins are in first place in the NFC East with a 5-2 record.

A young, former first round safety with 4 years of solid starting experience and a pro bowl just got traded for a 4th round pick? HUH? I know the safety position is a little devalued, but wow. Plus, Green Bay just traded multi-year starter at running back, Ty Montgomery, for a 7th rounder earlier this week. I don’t know the Packer’s cap situation, but it must be in some serious trouble if they aren’t willing to pay these young stars a second contract off rookie wages.

On the other hand, the Redskins now have yet another Alabama player on their defense. The count is up to 7 now I think?

Roll Skins.

Is the 2018 Alabama team the Tide’s greatest ever?

Everything Saban has learned in 46 years of coaching, every fiber in his Panama-hat-wearing, aight-saying, rat-poison-averse being says this Alabama team has issues. The defense is young and thin, which is great if you’re a model but not if you want to be a model defense. Alabama is allowing 15.9 points per game, the second-highest average since this incredible Alabama run (133-14, .905) began in 2008.

We see this kind of article a few times each year, but this one was quite well-written. I enjoyed his style of writing. In any case, give it a read. There’s a lot packed into this one, between how Saban has adapted and evolved his offense to comparing it to teams from the past. It’s a good way to kick off your Wednesday.