TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — With the first of two byes having arrived, the University of Alabama football team won’t be asking senior quarterback Blake Sims to do much this week as he recovers from a shoulder injury sustained against Florida.
The No. 3 Crimson Tide won’t return to practice until Tuesday, and likely will hold off to start game planning for the Oct. 4 visit to No. 10 Ole Miss (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS) until later in the week.
“He bruised his shoulder, it’s his right shoulder,” Coach Nick Saban said after Saturday’s game. “We were concerned about whether he’d be able to throw the ball, but he settled down to where he could throw it ok.
“It’s probably good that we have a bye week this week. It’ll be a good thing for us to heal up and improve on some things. It’s probably something that’s going to be sore for him for a while. Hopefully that second week he’ll be about get beck to being normal in practice.”
Sims sustained the injury on Alabama’s final possession of the third quarter when on second-and-10 at Crimson Tide 20 he took off on a 24-yard run that ended with a hit by cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III and hard landing.
The quarterback immediately grabbed his right arm and came running off the field, which didn’t give reserve Jacob Coker a chance to warm up.
“Was scrambling, trying to get the first down, just got a little ding,” Sims said, calling his shoulder “very fine.”
At the time, Sims had completed 21 of 30 passes for 402 yards. He returned to lead a final scoring drive, going 2 of 3 including the 37-yard catch-and-run pass to running back T.J Yeldon and the 6-yard lob pass to Amari Cooper in the end zone.
Meanwhile, senior wide receiver DeAndrew White (shoulder) returned from a shoulder injury and had six receptions for 48 yards along with a fumble that was returned for a touchdown.
Senior safety Jarrick Williams (foot) did not play, and with senior safety Nick Perry suspended for the first half due to a targeting penalty and sophomore cornerback Eddie Jackson sidelined by a quad injury in addition to coming off knee surgery in April, essentially half of the secondary was new against the Gators.
True freshman Tony Brown stepped in for Jackson, junior Geno Smith slid over to free safety, sophomore Maurice Smith took Williams’ spot at star (the fifth defensive back in the nickel package), and junior Jabriel Washington filled in as the dime back for the first half.
Florida still only had 93 yards in the air, with one touchdown pass and two interceptions. The Gators’ longest drive of the game was seven plays for just 31 yards.
“Jarrick is still out, even though Jarrick dressed for the game and thought he could have played in an emergency if he had to,” Saban said. “Hopefully we’ll get those guys back and some continuity there.
“Tony is making a lot of progress and playing with a lot more consistency, has a lot better idea of what he’s supposed to do and how to do it. (We) can’t seem to keep Eddie healthy enough to keep him on the field, and he can’t practice like he needs to practice to be able to get back to where e needs to play, but hopefully this two weeks will help Eddie get back in the swing of things as well.”
Christopher Walsh has covered Alabama football since 2004 and is the author of 19 books. In his free time, he writes about college football.
