Jumbo Package: Initial injury report released for Alabama vs Georgia

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Happy Thursday, everyone. Alabama basketball has its first preseason exhibition tonight at 6:30pm, against Furman. It will not be televised, so those near Tuscaloosa will need to go in person if you’d like to watch.

In football news, the initial injury report was released for Saturday’s game vs Georgia, and starting RT Jayvin James isn’t on it.

Alabama football’s first injury report is out ahead of its game with Georgia.

Alabama right tackle Jayvin James (lower body) was not listed on the injury report, while tight end Josh Ford (broken arm) and Jorden Edmonds (lower body) are questionable ahead of Saturday’s prime-time meeting with the Bulldogs.

In his press conference Monday, Oct. 5, Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said he is “optimistic” James would return against Georgia.

That’s great news for an offensive line that is coming together. Jorden Edmonds showing up as questionable is interesting after DeBoer said Monday that he’d still be out a while.

As far as Josh Ford goes, that man is a warrior.

Alabama tight end Josh Ford sustained a broken arm in the Mississippi State game and had surgery Sunday, Kalen DeBoer said Wednesday.

DeBoer added Ford is “determined to get on the football field,” adding that he’s “progressing along fairly well right now.”

“We’ll kind of see how the week continues for him,” DeBoer said. “I know where his mindset is at. Just got to make sure he meets the levels he needs to meet as far as being physically ready. He’s doing a great job. It’s going well. We’re optimistic.”

If he plays with a club, they have to find a way to get him a little play action pass on the goal line. Talk about a crowd pop.

Kirby Smart and Kalen DeBoer are both unbothered by the weather.

“I’m just getting our football team ready,” DeBoer said during the SEC teleconference Wednesday. “It hasn’t affected us much other than we’re doing the wet ball drills and getting wet ball involved with some of our team reps, just like we did last week at times, preparing for the rain a week ago.

“But I’m not really involved in too much, just updated on where things stand, if there’s anything that would need to be adjusted. But I haven’t heard anything recently.”

Neither has Georgia coach Kirby Smart, who said he doesn’t have input on the logistics of the game.

The SEC and Alabama both put out statements Tuesday saying they’re monitoring the weather.

“My thoughts are exactly what you said: It’s uncertainty beyond my control,” Smart said, responding to a reporter’s question. “So, we as coaches game plan for multiple situations, weather conditions when they’re there. We had that same prep last week with the threat of those things. So, it doesn’t change a lot about practice. You have to practice good on good. You got to practice for the long term of the season, not just for one week.

There is hope that the storm will pass earlier than initially feared.

Chase Goodbread wrote that EJ Crowell needs to be on the field if he can now be trusted in pass pro.

“I thought this last week, honestly, he did a really good job on pass protection in practice, and it has really come around to where we can trust him in that regard,” Grubb said, “and that helps getting him in the football game.”

Pass protection is the difference between playing and riding the bench for freshman running backs across college football. Star high school running backs aren’t asked to do it much; some not at all, making it a common weak spot for incoming freshmen. It’s been a growth area for Crowell, but Grubb was plain: he can now be trusted to identify and effectively pick up blitzers. If that’s the case, there’s little reason for Grubb to continue holding him back.

Tough to argue in a game where a single gamebreaking play could decide things.

Colin Gay wrote about freshman Xavier Griffin, who had a breakout performance vs Mississippi State after forcing himself onto the field.

“I can’t think of a freshman; we’ve been able to put this much on him, I think is a real credit to the work that he’s put in and the work that (Alabama linebackers coach) Chuck Morrell has done with him,” Wommack said. “I think he’s in a good place right now, and he’s playing really physical. When the ball turns over and commits, he is just playing at a fever pitch and playing really physical, and it’s good to see.”

Griffin has committed, Clay said. Talking to players and coaches, she said Griffin immediately arrived in Tuscaloosa eager to learn and ready to work, latching onto and taking in wisdom from players like Justin Hill, Caleb Woodson, QB Reese, Devan Thompkins, Desmond Umeozulu and Ivan Taylor.

That’s all Wommack expects from Griffin. Keep playing football. Keep doing your job.

Griffin looks like the next great one.

Kirby claims that Saban is trying to pump his team full of rat poison.

However, in an appearance on SportsCenter Tuesday, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, who served as Alabama’s defensive coordinator under Saban from 2007-2015, dismissed his old mentor’s high praise, joking that the Crimson Tide legend was trying to serve the Bulldogs some of his infamous “rat poison” before his team faces Alabama this week.

“It’s a setup,” Smart told ESPN’s Kevin Negandhi. “He knows who we play. He knows he said it a couple weeks out before we go to play Alabama.

“That’s easy to say up there on that stage. It’s hard to earn that kind of accolade as a coach because we’re not what he says right now. That is his version of ‘rat poison.’ That’s fine. I get it.”

The Georgia players who were around in 2024 don’t want to relive that trip to Tuscaloosa.

“I kind of got a sour taste in my mouth, last time I was in this stadium in ’24, we got off to a slow start,” Greene said on Monday. 

Georgia’s team has morphed a lot over the last two seasons, but there are plenty of players and some starters that were in Tuscaloosa for that game. Lawson Luckie, Greene and Raylen Wilson are a handful of the starters from that team. Gunner Stockton, Drew Bobo, Nate Frazier and many others were of course there. 

These games are what makes the college football season special, and the fifth year player Greene has been around long enough to know that. 

“They’re (Alabama) definitely good players, you come to Georgia for games like this against guys like this,” Greene said, “so I’m looking forward to the opportunity to play against good players, and make sure we take care of what we’ve got to take care of and neutralize them.”

Last, this is a strong piece on Front Office Sports about how Alabama goes about building a roster.

According to The Athletic’sbudget projection, the Crimson Tide have a top-10 payroll in college football this year. On the recruiting trail, their two recruiting classes under DeBoer have finished around fourth nationally on average, according to 247Sports and Rivals. 

Industry sources suggest Alabama’s front office structure differs from some of its peers in college football. One example: LSU, which compared its setup to an NFL franchise, hired a new four-person team to oversee roster management this summer. Other programs that employ a GM and one or multiple assistant GMs include Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon, USC, and more. 

The Tide’s operation is less elaborate and highly collaborative. Alabama has one GM in Courtney Morgan, and one director of recruiting strategy in Jatavis Sanders. While programs such as Texas and Ohio State have senior positions tied to scouting and the transfer portal, such positions are only at the associate level with Alabama. But it makes up for it with a large number of support staffers, including five in recruiting, six under player personnel, and fifteen football analysts. 

That’s about it for now. Have a great day.

Roll Tide.

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