Brian Robinson shares message to Jase McClellan following injury

Alabama running back Brian Robinson shared his approach to helping his fellow running back Jase McClellan after McClellan suffered a knee injury on Saturday. While McClellan’s knee injury has not been fully diagnosed yet, head coach Nick Saban says he is likely to miss significant time with the injury.

Brian Robinson on Jase McClellan’s injury

Following Alabama’s big 42-21 win over Ole Miss on Saturday, Robinson spoke during a post-game press conference about his teammate’s injury.

“Jase has been contributing great to our offense,” Robinson stated. “He’s been doing a great job just playing a key role, playing his role to the best of his ability. Just talking to him after the game, just making sure he’s staying positive or whatever the situation may be. It’s our job to stay beside him and just keep him up and keep him motivated so that he can make a great return when he [does] come back.”

With McClellan missing during the game, Robinson stepped up in a huge way by rushing for 171 yards and four touchdowns on 36 carries.

With McClellan expected to miss a handful of games, Alabama will have to find a new backup running back for Robinson. The only two other available scholarship tailbacks are Roydell Williams and Trey Sanders. Freshman Camar Wheaton has not made an appearance this season, and Saban said earlier this fall he sustained an undisclosed injury in practice.

McClellan proved his value as he played in 13 games last season as a freshman. With Robinson and Najee Harris both in the running back room, the 5-foot-11, 212-pound McClellan carried the ball 23 times for 245 yards and two touchdowns.

Jase McClellan’s injury

Alabama running back Jase McClellan suffered a knee injury in Saturday’s 42-21 win over Ole Miss. Nick Saban provided an update in his postgame press conference, and the Crimson Tide could be without the tailback for an extended amount of time.

A sophomore, McClellan has served as starting running back Brian Robinson’s primary backup this season. He finished Saturday with six carries for 28 yards, his final touch coming in the third quarter. By the fourth quarter, however, he was on the sideline in street cloths and crutches.

“Jase has a knee injury. The initial report on it is not good, but until we do an MRI we don’t know for sure,” Saban said. “I think he’s probably going to be out for a while.”

The former four-star recruit has 40 carries for 191 yards and a touchdown this season. He has played a role in the passing game, too, with 10 catches for 97 yards and three scores.

On3’s Pete Nakos contributed to this article.