Nick Saban explains what went into decision to play Bryce Young

The question of last week surrounded the health of Alabama quarterback Bryce Young. After spraining his AC joint against Arkansas, he missed the Tide’s last game and a half. In the end, he did up making his return in the loss against Tennessee and Nick Saban says a lot went into that.

Saban spoke on Young’s return during his press conference after the loss in Knoxville. He said the Tide’s medical staff did their part. From there, he had all the confidence in Young that, even after having limited practice time, his QB was going to be able to go out on the field and still play well.

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“I had total trust and confidence that he had practiced enough, that he wasn’t gonna forget how to play quarterback. And he didn’t,” said Saban. “Even though he wasn’t able to practice especially throwing the ball as much in the passing game, getting him healthy so that he could go out there and throw it effectively was probably the most important thing. I think the way our medical staff managed that gave him the best opportunity to do it. And he obviously came through and played really well today.”

Young had one of his best college games in the 52-49 defeat. He threw for the second most yards of his career with 455. That came with two touchdowns as well on a 67.3% completion rate. It wasn’t enough, but it was a positive sign for what Young can still do coming off injury.

Saban and Alabama will need a healthy Young in order to bounce back from this loss. If they want to stay in the driver’s seat in the SEC and for the College Football Playoff, they’ll need more performances like this from him that’ll get them back in the win column.