Everything Kalen DeBoer said after Alabama’s second preseason scrimmage

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama held its second preseason scrimmages at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday. Shortly after the 2-hour workout, head coach Kalen DeBoer spoke to reporters in the media room. Below is everything DeBoer said about the final scrimmage of fall camp.

DeBoer’s opening statement…

“Good scrimmage. Got some good heat out there. That was probably one of the best things we got out of it today, was one of the warmer days, we saw that all week brewing. So took advantage of it, it’s been actually too nice on campus, especially in the morning. But good day that way. And it’s gonna be two weeks from today at this time, we’ll be playing, so talked to the guys about that a little bit. A lot like the first scrimmage. Offense did some nice things early, has to do a better job of sustaining it. And the defense, doing a good job of responding. That’s really general but that’s kind of how the scrimmage went. Got a lot of red zone work in at the end. Just slowly building up and got some reps on that. Tuesday’s and Thursday’s practice was really good from some live action, so Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday and again today, we’ve got a lot of tackling in. A lot of work in full pads. I like the work, just kind of the stamina we’ve had that way and just how much tackling we’ve had. So questions.”

DeBoer on Alabama’s specialists…

“Blake’s done a really nice job. Last scrimmage– I shouldn’t say scrimmage. Last Saturday here was really the best day I’ve seen him have. I think he continued to have a really good week, and then today came out and, in our drill work, we didn’t get as many punts in the scrimmage, working into the scrimmage (as) I was hoping too. I think we were probably two or three less than what I was hoping for with a partial script of what we wanted to get done. But he’s had a really good eight days. I think Alex continues to get better and push, just with his injury that he’s had. He’s so far ahead of schedule with his recovery, and so now he’s really getting into that rhythm and showing a lot of improvement there. 

“And then Conor. Conor’s done a really good job on campus in the complex. Last week he missed, I’m not sure what it was, but we gotta just keep getting work in the stadium here. Missed a couple today. So from a field goal statement, the ones further out. Probably 40, 38 to 44, somewhere in-between a couple of those. So gotta keep getting into the work. Was disappointed that he didn’t hit them all because he’s done a nice job in our practices. We’ve been working at it every day with him being new and that whole unit being new. So we gotta keep working.”

DeBoer on Jaeden Roberts’ availability…

“I forgot to mention that right off the bat. Two guys that didn’t scrimmage today, Jaeden and James (Smith), same as last week. James, actually starting him, James has been working through, building up. Feel good about progress he’s had in the week of practice with it being live. Needed to hold back there, but he’s getting closer by the day. Jaeden has a concussion, just to tell you what it is. And so he’s going through the protocol of that and so hasn’t done anything from a team standpoint. Starting to work back into that protocol, which included being out there today, but not to participate in the scrimmage.”

DeBoer on naming Ty Simpson the starter; how he looked in the scrimmage…

“I hadn’t even thought about this is the first time since I’ve seen you guys. We knew we were at that point where we felt good about who should be the starter and it just made sense after the scrimmage when we evaluated kind of the whole product he’s put on the football field.

“All the quarterbacks, I thought, came out there again today and did a great job, and that was the same thing as the last scrimmage. And specifically, Ty, as you asked, today I thought he came out and executed the offense. Just continues to be steady, finds his times to make the plays. Today he actually used his speed again. And that’s something that people will probably underestimate as we go through the year, just with his ability to make plays and keep plays alive. But he was, I thought, he was steady. He was consistent. Looking here, probably a higher completion percentage than what he had last scrimmage, maybe not quite as explosives. I think that’s a tribute to our defense and what they did as well. So good both scrimmages for him, and just continue to make the progress. And I think building the team and getting the momentum going when we knew we needed to do it, and that’s allowing us to have three weeks of prep building our team for Florida State.”

DeBoer on scrimmage No. 2 solidifying positions…

“Yeah, we made a big point of that, just that today was a really important day to get some more film out there for us to evaluate. There’s guys that are still competing, and that’s the way it will always be. The games we’ll be evaluating as well. And, I mean, there’s some competitions that are very close. And there’s some guys that you’re trying to to work different combinations — the what ifs down the road. But yeah, today was a big, big part of us understanding what we got, you know, individually and collectively.”

DeBoer on who stood out in Alabama’s secondary…

“Yeah, good question. There’s so much that I’m watching. I couldn’t tell you exactly who had maybe the most tackles or anything. I thought the defense today and the secondary did a really good job of making sure that they were getting the guys on the ground. You know, I think we still didn’t get the picks we’re trying to get in force, but I know that we’re getting close. And we had a couple this week, you can see the momentum building for those guys. It’s hard to single any one guy out. I thought there was a number of guys that did a nice job. So the guys you’d expect are really the guys that are producing.”

DeBoer on Alabama’s ball security and pass protection…

“We had one ball that was competitive that I think was called a turnover, probably would have gone to a review if it was a real game to see if it was completed and then forced a fumble. The pass protection is consistent, solid. I think, the key is for the quarterbacks that they drop back and they are comfortable with what is going to happen, that they aren’t wondering, ‘Man, this guy, I just never feel good about the right guard, the right tackle,’ whatever it might be. These guys, I think, when you know they drop back, and you’re talking about all three quarterbacks, they drop back, I think they feel like number one, the responsibility is going to be there.

“And number two, the production and give them some time to work. You know you’re not going to have all day, right? At this level, there’s too many good pass rushers that you’re going to have. But I think it’s consistent. It’s allowing quarterbacks to feel good about keeping their eyes down field. They’re not worried about who’s going to get beat. So I think across the board, the one-on-ones, they’re doing a pretty good job. And then just schematically, I think we always do a good job of trying to help out where we need to.”

DeBoer on his reaction to Michigan’s penalties for sign stealing…

“I don’t know anything about it. I honestly don’t. I don’t know what they got. I didn’t read it. I haven’t even heard about it. You can tell me and I can respond, I guess. … I don’t know how, in comparison to other issues that we’ve had over the years, how that relates, but it is what it is. I don’t have too much of a response, I guess.”

DeBoer on Alabama’s kickoff and punt return options…

“We haven’t decided on who the starter will be back there. Guys that did a good job a year ago, we got Cole [Adams] back there, really in both – and he started out as our punt returner a year ago – and he’s done a nice job just being steady. And then I think new faces, you’ve got Rico [Scott], probably kickoff return, you know, can do some things back there for us. And then Bak [Jaylen Mbakwe] in both areas as well. He and Cole really I think, can do both, and provide a combination of just consistency with fielding it, and then some explosiveness there, so I would start with those guys. There’s more – Ryan [Williams] had great experience there last year. Had a couple of explosive plays, got thrown into action there when Bak went down through the season. I would have 100% confident having Germie Bernard back there to field punts and things like that. That’s kinda the nuts and bolts of who we put back there.”

DeBoer on staying relatively healthy through two scrimmages…

“Yeah, yeah. I think we’re in a spot where – are you kind of saying the end of fall camp? Is that kind of what you’re asking today? Yeah. I think that will continue a little bit into Tuesday. Really, school starts Wednesday, and that’ll be the next thing. So, our normal camp schedule, other than that, is just because of how it works out. We won’t practice tomorrow or Monday. But Tuesday will be like a normal camp schedule. So, can’t really do that once school starts. We’ll have a good practice even on the weekend. Saturday next week, try to get back here is the kind of the plan as of right now.

“But, yeah, I think injury-wise, there’s a lot of guys that got – that are beat up a little bit, but it’s something that it was going to happen if you were going to be physical at all during camp. And we still have two weeks left. So, the next couple of days, it’s set up specifically for that reason to be able to get these guys off their feet, recover a little bit. And then we’ll certainly have a different type of week. We’ll still have physicality, especially Tuesday, we’ll get back after it, but it will look different. Like I said, we’ve been, we went hard last Saturday with a big scrimmage today, but also Tuesday and Thursday, we did a number of live sessions moving the ball um just like you have seen out here today.”

DeBoer on if the later start time was to simulate heat…

“Yeah, 100%. We actually had it originally scheduled earlier, moved it back just to get a little more heat. It’s good for us. We even conditioned at the end, did some extra work, and so just trying to get ready in every way possible.”

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