TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Although his left hand was heavily wrapped over some sort of extra protection during the previous day’s practice, University of Alabama junior linebacker Reggie Ragland downplayed his injury to reporters on Tuesday afternoon.
“I dinged it up a little bit yesterday in practice,” said Ragland, who indicated that hand collided with a helmet.
Regardless, he’s poised to play when No. 4 Alabama visits No. 16 LSU on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, CBS), a game that has a “No holding back” feel to it. Even freshman left tackle Cam Robinson is trying to practice less than two weeks after sustaining a high ankle sprain at Tennessee on Oct. 25.
Robinson hails from Monroe, La., while Ragland is the roommate of safety Landon Collins, so he’s been hearing a lot about how the Louisiana-based players are looking forward to this game.
That includes junior linebacker Denzel Devall, a product of Bastrop, located just north of Monroe, who has missed the last three games due to an ankle injury.
“Oh yeah, for the past two weeks he’s been practicing and I know how he is,” Ragland said. “I have to keep him level headed because he’s crazy.”
Ragland leads the Crimson Tide with 56 tackles, two more than Collins. Senior linebacker Trey DePriest, who missed the season opener against West Virginia, is third with 41.
Ragland also has 6½ tackles for a loss and 1½ sacks, an interception, three passes broken up, a forced fumble and two recoveries.
“Knowing how Landon gets to the ball and Trey and all the other guys getting to the ball, yeah, it’s surprising to me a little bit,” said Ragland, a semifinalist for the Butkus Award for linebacker of the year.
Christopher Walsh has covered Alabama football since 2004 and is the author of 19 books. In his free time, he writes about college football.
