Nick Saban praises Traeshon Holden's improvement following latest scrimmage

Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Traeshon Holden dominated in the team’s scrimmage this weekend, earning high praise from head coach Nick Saban.

“He had a really good day today, made a lot of good plays,” Saban told reporters in the post-scrimmage press conference. “He had four or five catches, a couple of big plays, so he did a nice job today. I’ve been pleased with his progress.”

Holden, one of the team’s largest receivers at 6-foot-3, 195-pounds, has been working with Bryce Young and the first-team offense as he heads into histhird season.

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In 2021, he had 21 catches for 237 yards and a score. Although the Tide came up short in the game, Holden’s best performance was in the national championship versus Georgia when he posted six catches. The lone touchdown of his career so far came on a three-catch, 70-yard day versus the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

The third-year pass-catcher dominated on Saturday, hauling in touchdowns from 40, 50 and 70-plus yards out, according to reports from BamaInsider. At least one of those scores came against the first-team defense. He almost brought in another catch on an off-throw from backup Jalen Milroe.

Along with Holden, the Crimson Tide have been starting Bulldogs transfer Jermaine Burton, freshman Kobe Prentice and returner Ja’Corey Brooks.

Traeshon Holden came to Tuscaloosa as a four-star prospect out of California. He was the No. 194 overall player in the country in the 2020 class, according to the On3 Consensus. After limited snaps his first year and learning from his opportunities in 2021, Holden is ready to be a major contributor this season.

Saban provides injury update on Eli Ricks, Khyree Jackson

After the scrimmage, Saban provided a quick update on the health of two injured cornerbacks: Eli Ricks and Khyree Jackson. Jackson managed to participate in the scrimmage, while Ricks was ultimately held out.

“Eli dressed out, went through warmups, but we held him out because he really hadn’t practiced. And — but I think he’ll be ready to go on Tuesday,” Saban said.

Ricks, a transfer to Alabama from SEC west rival LSU, has been held out since last Saturday’s scrimmage with what Saban described as a “little back problem” and not something that would keep Ricks sidelined for long. With Tuesday floated as a return date for Ricks, that seems to be the case.

Jackson participated in most but not all of the Saturday scrimmage, Saban said. This came after he worked back into practice later in the week.

“Khyree scrimmaged, about, I’d say two-thirds of the time, maybe three-quarters of the time,” Saban said. “He’s making progress. He was able to practice the last two days, Thursday and Friday, probably about half the time. So he’s making progress, and I thought he did a nice job today when he was in there.”

On3’s Andrew Graham contributed to this report.