We can wax poetic about that force of an offensive line.

Or we can whine about the enigma that is Jermaine Burton.

We can talk about that resilient defense in Fayetteville.

Or we can discuss that re-emerging penalty problem on the road.

We can talk about all of it, the good, the bad, the endless in-between.

But we have to talk about Bryce Young.

About his shoulder injury, about his status, about his availability going forward as the schedule gets harder and the stakes get higher.

We just have to, because at the end of the day or night or week or month, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner is the only thing that matters in making sure top-ranked Alabama is the top ranked team in the country on the 2nd Tuesday in January.

And Nick Saban knows that. He’s a smart man and a really, really smart college football head coach. But the tense issue and the probing questions and the premature headlines he had already seen got the best of him during Monday’s weekly press conference, and he took the media to task. It wasn’t the first time he has done that, far from it, and it won’t be the last time, because he’ll probably be forced to do the same thing in a few weeks about something or other.

But Saban better get ready for more questions, probing or not, about Young until he’s back on the field and back to being the Bryce Young we all know and admire. Which means it’s probably not going to be an ideal situation for a few weeks until this all gets settled, or until Young settles it for everybody by throwing something like 4 touchdown passes and running for another score in a future SEC showdown to be determined.

That’s just the situation that Alabama and Saban find themselves in now, and that’s the world we live in now. Or rather, that’s the up-in-the-air world Saban and Young and the team live in now. It’s hardly ideal and casts doubt on a team that’s otherwise living large at No. 1 in the country again and coming off a titanic road win and coming home for a prime-time game against a banged-up, suddenly unranked Texas A&M.

But life isn’t always ideal, even in the crimson and white world of Tuscaloosa.

If you follow Bama football religiously or even at all, you might’ve already seen or read about Saban’s agitated reactions and statements on Young’s injury since, well, immediately after Saturday’s game, when CBS Sports’ Jenny Dell put a microphone in front of Saban’s mouth. Before he was even asked about The Elephant in the Middle of the Room, Saban told Dell that Young was day to day with a right shoulder injury and that he didn’t think the injury was a long-term thing.

Then on Monday, Saban let loose in the weekly presser.

Perhaps it was leftover frustration that Young, by far his most important player, had gotten injured in the first place.

Or perhaps he was trying to set a controlling tone for the narrative on a story that will linger until the pain in Young’s shoulder doesn’t.

“You guys think I’m going to tell you what I’m going to do with our offense and our team? You might as well make it up,” Saban said. “I saw today there’s headlines I’m going to keep a secret what we’re doing with Bryce. It sounded like me making that statement! But I’ve never said that! But it was there in black and white, like so you can make up whatever you want to make up. Look at somebody else’s running quarterback and say they should put these plays in. Think that’d be the better way to do it.”

It has only been a few days since the Shoulder Injury Heard Around the South, and already things are getting a little edgy. But that’s what happens when the Heisman winner at the biggest program in the country is injured on national TV and is standing on the sideline as a cheerleader while the game is being decided in the 2nd half. There is deep concern, a healthy dose of worrying with a little paranoia mixed in.

And, yes, there’s the inevitable overreaction from a fanatical fan base, and maybe some things written and said that are a little off base. Or just not true.

All of this conjecture and subsequent consternation was destined to happen. It’s Alabama football. It’s Tuscaloosa.

And it’s Bryce Young we’re talking about. And while a sprained AC joint isn’t exactly a torn ACL or anything close, it’s not something that’s going to go away overnight, even if Saban has said that Young has dealt with this ailment a few times and always come back good to go and ready to go.

It’s something significant enough where Saban wasn’t even able to answer Monday’s question about when he thought Young would resume throwing. Saban didn’t know if that would happen Monday, or Tuesday, or Wednesday, or any day down the road. But there is a big game on Saturday night at Bryant-Denny Stadium, and that’s only 3 short days down the road, and that makes this whole issue … an issue, no matter how little Saban wants to talk about it publicly.

But privately? In those crucial one-on-one conversations with Young, Saban will say plenty to his prized signal-caller before Young ever goes back on that field, whether that’s this Saturday against Texas A&M, next Saturday at Tennessee or sometime beyond.

Saban gave a snippet of what he’ll tell Young to do differently to prevent this tense ordeal from happening again. He’ll tell Young to be a little more careful, or a lot more now that the injury is out there and defenses will be coming after Young even more than they already do.

“Don’t put yourself in a bad position,” said Saban on Monday. “He could’ve thrown the ball away before, and he could’ve just let the guy tackle him. In either case, he probably wouldn’t have an issue.”

This doesn’t mean Saban doesn’t want Young to be Young anymore. He just wants — needs — Young to be a slightly smarter version of himself. He’ll ask Young to avoid all those high-risk plays that add up and usually don’t end well, just from an odds standpoint.

He’ll tell Young to still scramble, but be more under control when doing it. It’s a fine line between being his explosive self yet still being daring enough to will the Crimson Tide in those moments of need.

It’s not an easy set of new rules for Young to play under as he tries to help Alabama win another national title.

But it’ll be the new set of rules that helps Young stay out of the medical tent while a fan base frets.

And if Young can thread that needle and be his dynamic self while not reaggravating his injury, Saban won’t have to deal with the probing, with the speculation, with all of it.

Until that reality comes to fruition, Young’s injury will be the dominant thing hanging over the program.

And we’ll definitely have to talk about it.