Wednesday’s confirmation that Alabama middle linebacker Dylan Moses has torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee is more than a kick in the depth chart for the Crimson Tide.

While no members of the Fourth Estate were on hand Tuesday evening when Moses went down during practice, it is safe to say that several of his teammates and maybe even a couple coaches threw up their hands and said: “what’s next?!?”

It has been that kind of preseason for No. 2 Alabama, which at this point is just trying to get in front of Duke on Saturday afternoon without any more injuries re-shaping their administrative groupings.

“It’s certainly a character check for our team,” said Alabama coach Nick Saban about Moses’ injury during the weekly SEC media teleconference.

You think?

Saban also detailed Moses’ injury the same way he described linebacker Joshua McMillon’s injury from earlier in preseason camp — it will require surgery and will keep both players out for “an indefinite amount of time.”

Inevitably, the question came up Wednesday about Alabama’s practice standards — which seems like a ludicrous query at face value, and one Saban handled with unexpected evenness.

“I guess I’m always the guy that has to make the decision of whether we practice or whether we don’t practice,” Saban said. “If we practice, we have a chance to be good. If we don’t practice, I don’t see how we can get any execution. There’s risk-reward in everything you do.”

Indeed there is risk-reward. A player could get smacked by a co-ed’s Jeep on University Boulevard and be out for the year, but that doesn’t keep students from crossing all day and all night. Saban and the Crimson Tide simply can’t wrap these kids in bubble-wrap and preserve them for fall Saturdays.

Before fall camp started, the junior Moses and senior McMillon were set to start alongside each other. Now, Alabama is likely to be turning to freshmen Shane Lee and Christian Harris as replacements. Harris was listed as the starter at Will on the depth chart Monday and Lee listed as Moses’ backup, and reports from Wednesday had them leading linebacker drills during the practice viewing period.

In addition to Harris and Lee getting all that playing time, sophomores Jaylen Moody and Ale Kaho are listed behind Harris and sophomore Markail Benton is next man up behind Lee. Look for all of them to see the field in an attempt to build depth.

“Fortunately for the guys we have as backup linebackers, they have been good students of the game,” Saban said. “They’ve really tried to prepare themselves the right way.”

It is worth noting that Alabama has faced a similar problem before. The 2017 opener saw starting outside linebackers Christian Miller and Terrell Lewis get hurt for the entire season and Anfernee Jennings injured for a few weeks. Later that season, Moses and Shaun Dion Hamilton were lost for the season at middle linebacker. Incredibly, both Miller and Lewis rehabilitated their injuries like monsters and returned late to help contribute to a 17th national championship.

And how’d you like to be Pete Golding right about now? Alabama’s new defensive coordinator coaches the inside linebackers, and now he is preparing two true freshmen to anchor the Crimson Tide defense.

As much as Moses and McMillon now sharing rehab schedules instead of alternating calling defensive plays is a kick in the Wilsons, it illustrates how sneaky-vulnerable any college football team is.

Unlike the pros, who can trade picks and wade through available free agents looking for a new player when one goes down, college football doesn’t have that luxury. You’re kinda stuck with who you’re stuck with — even if, by mortal roster standards, the players Alabama is “stuck with” could probably make the AAC first-team honors list.

Add to the fact that all this happened in, well, the preseason. The Crimson Tide haven’t even hit anyone on the record yet and have lost 2/11th of their starting defensive lineup. It doesn’t matter about the strength of schedule (a laugh-out-loud topic for another time …) — history tells us that Alabama will lose more starters before James Spann is predicting ice storms.

As if Saturday’s game with Duke isn’t a one-hand-tied-behind-the-back thing already, reports of 4 suspensions for Saturday make the inevitable victory even more bittersweet. Running backs Najee Harris and Brian Robinson Jr. — 1 and 2 in their administrative grouping — will be suspended for the first half of the game, and wide receiver DeVonta Smith and outside linebacker Terrell Lewis could also miss some of the game.

On the bright side, and we had to work for this one … if Harris, Robinson, Smith and Lewis aren’t playing, they can’t get hurt.

#SilverLinings, right?