Opening Statement…
“I thought our guys came out there and worked hard today. Really good look by our scout teams. Lots of young guys on there that continue to get a lot of reps, some guys that have come off some injuries, and it’s good to see them out there and getting going.
“When you look at Alabama – I said it today – offensively, I think it’s one of the most explosive Alabama teams that I’ve seen. There’s really no weakness on the offensive side of the ball. Defensively, you know they play a lot of people, play a lot of tight coverage, a lot of pressure, create a lot of negative plays. They continue to improve every single week. And on special teams they have lots of playmakers that are dynamic, a lot of speed on the teams. Obviously, it’ll be a big challenge for us.”
On what to expect to see from the defensive line and how they looked in practice this week…
“Well, we’ve probably had our best three practices of the year from the defensive front up there. If you look at the group all together, Matt Butler and (LaTrell) Bumphus have had an opportunity to work multiple spring practices on the D-line. A lot of these other guys have not, and so they’ll continue to get better. We got to play with more toughness, more effort. Got to be able to play on the other side of the line of scrimmage. We have not created a lot of negative plays with our front that we need to. We need to get more pressure up the middle without having to bring pressure. We’ve got a huge challenge this week with the guys that they’ll be playing in front of, so it’s a great opportunity for them.”
On the versatility of freshman LB Morven Joseph…
“He’s a guy that really is a four-for-four guy. He can play all four positions. Reminds me of a guy I coached before that plays for the Titans, Rashaan Evans. Very similar body movements, an instinctive guy. In high school he played defensive end and he also played inside linebacker, so he’s a guy that has bounced around like that. He’s smart, he works hard. He’s been a pretty good special teams player so far, so he’s just got to continue to work and he’ll do that.”
On the availability of LB Jeremy Banks and CB Alontae Taylor this week…
“They both practiced today so that was good to see. Alontae practiced yesterday also. I think both of them will be a game-time decision, but I think both of them have looked more promising. It has looked more promising the last couple of days. Both guys continue to work hard, and our training staff continues to do everything they can to get them ready.”
On Jarrett Guarantano and the other quarterbacks’ availability…
“He’s obviously has taken some licks over the last couple of weeks, but he’s practiced every day. Brian (Maurer) has had a knee and a hamstring that has been a little bit nagging through the course of camp, but he’s practiced the last couple of weeks. All these guys are taking reps and will continue to do that.”
On if he uses the underdog role to motivate the team…
“To me, a true competitor is self-motivated every single day. When your feet hit the floor, you want to be at your best. That’s the attitude to me that you have to have. Our guys continue to work hard. I thought this week has had really good practices. We have to take it from the practice field to the game field.”
-UT Athletics
