Nick Saban praises Terrion Arnold's ability to adapt amid injuries

On Monday, Nick Saban pointed the spotlight on defensive back Terrion Arnold. The Alabama head coach raved about Arnold’s performance this season in the face of adversity.

“Terrion has really done a good job for us. Because of injuries, he’s had to play multiple positions, which has been challenging for him,” Saban said. “When guys went out of the game, he didn’t have a lot of reps at it, but he’s been a trooper at doing it and trying to look at it as a challenge to go out and improve each week. His coverage ability has been very good. I think he’s played extremely well.”

Arnold isn’t afraid to step into a new role. Moreover, he’s been successful in these foreign environments. Arnold boasts 52 tackles, three interceptions, a sack and a forced fumble this season. The 6-foot sophomore has quickly emerged as one of the Crimson Tide’s team leaders.

Terrion Arnold speaks out against critics

Last week, Arnold used his respected voice to defend his team. During an appearance on “The Paul Finebaum Show” on Tuesday, Arnold shared that this year’s Alabama team didn’t appreciate the criticism from former players earlier this season.

“Obviously, when you see guys that you grew up watching and guys that have been in your shoes before, when you watch them, or you go and look at them say stuff about you, I’m one of those guys, I don’t have Twitter,” Arnold said. “The thing I’ve got is Instagram. So I didn’t really see those comments. But for my teammates to bring it up to us and kind of it get in the locker room, it kind of disheartened us.

“It’s obviously like, ‘Man, you’re supposed to be right here with us, and you guys have been in our shoes before. So if anything, you guys should be encouraging us with the adversity that we’re trying to go through right now.’”

Alabama received scathing criticism early following a 34-24 loss to Texas in Week 2. The voices only got louder after the Crimson Tide were tied 3-3 against a subpar USF team at halftime in Week 3. Arnold’s message wasn’t limited to former players.

“The USF situation as far as just seeing how people treated us after that in this fanbase and with our fans, the model I’ve been preaching to the guys – ‘We all we got, we all we need.’ And that’s something that we’re continuing to see with the growth. I feel like we haven’t played our best football yet,” Arnold said.

Arnold and his team will aim to silence doubters again this weekend. On Saturday, Alabama will square off against Auburn in the Iron Bowl at 3:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on CBS.