Nick Saban provides injury update on Jaylen Moody, addresses play of Deontae Lawson

Alabama was without a key contributor on defense Saturday night against Texas A&M, as Jaylen Moody was sidelined with an injury. Following Alabama’s close 24-20 victory, Nick Saban provided an injury update on Moody, saying that the hope is that he’ll be able to return soon.

“Moody had a bruised kidney,” Saban said. “So until he clears, which he’s gradually doing that – we thought it would happen more quickly than it did. But it hasn’t so hopefully he’ll be back.”

The loss of Moody is a big one. He ranks third on the team this season with 33 tackles, and also has 4.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

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Without Moody on the field, Alabama’s defense had to find other players to step up. Texas A&M scored 14 points in the second quarter, but were held to just six second half points. After the Aggies drove down the field in the final seconds, Alabama came up on the goal line and kept Texas A&M out of the endzone, preserving the close victory.

Deontae Lawson stepped up for Alabama with Moody sidelined

One player that stepped up for Alabama in the absence of Moody was second-year linebacker Deontae Lawson. In the win, he finished with three solo tackles and five total stops.

Nick Saban liked what he saw out of Lawson, and said that he’s a valuable player on the defense. Alabama is confident with Lawson out there, and that could prove to be huge for the unit moving forward.

“But I thought Deontae did a good job out there, actually,” said Saban. “He’s a good player. We have a lot of confidence in him.”

Lawson is a former four-star recruit. He was rated as the No. 48 player in the 2021 class, and was the No. 7 linebacker in that cycle, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

The work is far from over for Alabama this season. Even though the Crimson Tide won on Saturday and improved to 6-0 on the year, they dropped from No. 1 down to No. 3 in the latest AP Top 25 poll following Week 6. Alabama might be off to a 3-0 start in SEC play, but a tough schedule awaits with No. 6 Tennessee, No. 16 Mississippi State and No. 9 Ole Miss due up in the coming weeks.