Nick Saban provides positive availability update on receiver Tyler Harrell

Alabama may be reeling a bit after a loss to Tennessee last weekend, but Nick Saban provided some positive news on Wednesday.

According to Saban, transfer wide receiver Tyler Harrell is on his way back. Since transferring to the Crimson Tide from Louisville, the speedy wide receiver hasn’t seen any game time as he’s dealt with injuries, but it’s evident that could be changing.

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“He’s been practicing. He actually was available for the last game. He’s getting more and more reps, more and more comfortable with what he’s doing,” explained Saban. “There’s a possibility that he’s getting to the point where we can start to use him.”

Moreover, Harrell was part of an impressive portal haul for Saban and the Crimson Tide, coming in as the No. 66 transfer to hit the portal during the last cycle, according to the 2021 On3 Transfer Portal Rankings. Last season at Louisville, he totaled 523 receiving yards and six touchdowns before transferring to Alabama.

When Tyler Harrell can begin to make a difference for Alabama, his speed could be what their offense has been missing. Looking to rebound after a tough loss, it could be just what the doctor ordered for the Crimson Tide.

Nick Saban defends Alabama players, calls on leadership from coaches, players

During last week’s game against Tennessee, Alabama looked shaky out of the gate. Nick Saban pointed to a few factors in that, but defended his players.

Saban, speaking with reporters during his Monday press conference, said the Crimson Tide didn’t look like themselves last week at Neyland Stadium. He said they looked flat and probably made a few too many mistakes.

But mistakes aren’t always bad because the players can learn from them. That, Saban said, needs to be the coaching staff’s focus going forward through the rest of the season.

“Look, I think that our players all want to win,” Saban said. “Regardless of how everybody feels, we feel worse. The players are out there competing, they’re playing hard. Maybe not always playing smart, maybe making too many errors that we need to fix. And as coaches, we need to help them fix them, teach them. They need to learn from the lessons that — learning occurs best when you make a mistake. But you’ve got to take advantage of that. I think it’s important for our players to get that. … You want to have great energy and you want to be loose. I thought we were tight, especially starting the game.

“Coming out of the locker room, our players always chant. They weren’t chanting. I said, ‘Why ain’t you guys chanting? What’s up with that?’ It’s not that they don’t want to do it. It’s not that they’re not trying. I just think we’ve got to get our focus in the right place and our psychological disposition in the right place.”