Bryce Young’s status is one of the biggest storylines heading into Saturday’s top-10 showdown between Alabama and Tennessee. The 2021 Heisman Trophy winner left in the first half of Alabama’s Week 5 win over Arkansas with a sprained shoulder and did not play in the Crimson Tide’s Week 6 contest against Texas A&M. Nick Saban shared the latest with an SEC football insider less than 24 hours before kickoff.

Like most teams, Alabama does not hold a Friday media availability. ESPN’s Chris Low, however, was able to talk to the Tide head coach about the status of his star quarterback.

Saban told Low that Young wants to play and is feeling better, but the staff will need to evaluate him during warmups ahead of the 3:30 p.m. ET rivalry clash.

“He’s done a lot more in practice this week and thrown a lot more than he did a week ago,” Saban said. “He wants to play and feels like he’s healthy enough to play. We’ll know for sure once he gets on the field, starts throwing and how he feels then.”

Saban revealed to Low that Young did not throw on Thursday, which was by design.

“There’s no reason to rush a quarterback back with this kind of injury,” Saban said. “Bryce is such a competitor that he always wants to play. The soreness he had last week hasn’t been nearly as bad. You can see that when he throws it. But we still need to make sure everything checks out before the game.”

The college football world awaits the final decision on Young.