DeVonta Smith injury update: Latest after Alabama DB leaves game vs. Tennessee

Alabama is thin in the secondary and getting thinner, following an injury to defensive back DeVonta Smith in the first half against Tennessee.

Smith was banged up and received medical treatment on the sidelines. The ABC broadcast crew provided an update on him and another defensive back during the call of the game.

“Alabama’s defensive back DeVonta Smith was riding the exercise bike in visible pain,” sideline reporter Molly McGrath said. “Athletic training staff took him to the medical tent. He’s still in there. He spent a lot of time getting his right hamstring massaged and tended to. I’m told Smith and DB Red Morgan both questionable to return, and Kalen DeBoer stressed to us their secondary is already thin. And it’s getting thinner, guys.”

Alabama led Tennessee 7-0 at the time of McGrath’s sideline report on DeVonta Smith.

Despite that, not everything had been smooth in the early going for the Crimson Tide, with quarterback Jalen Milroe looking a little rusty to start the game.

Kalen DeBoer addresses Jalen Milroe interception

Through the first quarter of the Third Saturday in October matchup between Alabama and Tennessee, quarterback play was up-and-down for both teams. But Jalen Milroe had one of the more costly plays on a goal-line interception, and Kalen DeBoer addressed the conversation between the two.

Milroe’s pass was picked off in the end zone by Jermod McCoy as Alabama looked to score the first touchdown of the game. It was the Alabama QB’s fifth interception of the season, and it kept the game scoreless.

DeBoer’s message was simple, though. He wanted Milroe to keep playing his game and focus on the task at hand, rather than worrying too much about the interception.

“Just the things we always talk about, as far as ball placement and decision-making and things like that,” DeBoer told ABC’s Molly McGrath. “We’ve just got to keep playing ball, keep playing ball. Each play is its own play.”

On3’s Nick Schultz also contributed to this report.