Nick Saban updates status of Deontae Lawson, discusses plan in his absence

Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban shared an update on star linebacker Deontae Lawson, who left the game against Ole Miss with a sprained ankle.

Now, there are questions about whether or not Lawson is going to be able to play against Mississippi State. On Monday, Saban explained that if Lawson is unable to play, Alabama will need to test its depth the same way that happened after he left the game against Ole Miss.

“Well, you know, we played most of the game this last week with Jihaad [Campbell] playing and Trezmen [Marshall] playing,” Nick Saban said. “So, that’ll be the way that we go.”

As of now, Saban doesn’t know whether or not Lawson is going to be able to play against Mississippi State next weekend. He should know more later in the week. Until then, however, the Alabama staff is going to keep working on making sure players like Campbell and Marshall are ready to go.

“Obviously, the depth at that position is going to become critical for us if Deontae can’t go. So, we’ll keep working with those guys and try to get them ready to go this week.”

Deontae Lawson is a big loss for the Alabama defense, as he calls the defense from his linebacker position. That’s a big role for Campbell and Marshall to step into. However, both proved more than capable of doing it against Ole Miss. In particular, Campbell led Alabama in solo tackles for the game with seven.

After the game on Saturday, Nick Saban shared that Deontae Lawson would be day-to-day with his sprained ankle Whether or not he’s able to play against Mississippi State is going to come down to how he responds to treatment.

“He’s got a sprained ankle,” Saban said. “He’s going to be day-to-day. It’s a pretty good one so nobody knows how long it’s going to take for him to respond. That’s all I can tell you about that one.”

To this point in the season, Lawson has 26 total tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and 2.0 sacks.

Nick Saban called Mississippi State a bigger challenge than Ole Miss

Ahead of Alabama’s trip to Starkville, Nick Saban made some interesting comments about the challenge ahead of Alabama, claiming it will be more difficult than playing USF or Ole Miss.

“Our first SEC road game, and this is actually a bigger challenge for us than the last two games, in my opinion,” Saban said.

“In terms of, this team is very physical, very aggressive on defense. Creates a lot of negative plays. They’ve got a lot of starters back. They know their system. They know their scheme. They play very, very well. You know, Zach Arnett. It’s his system. He’s a very good defensive coach. As the head coach, he’s done a really good job there. Obviously, the quarterback [Will Rogers] has been an outstanding player for a long time. But with the new offense that they run, there’s a lot more balance in it. They’ve got two really good backs that are very, very productive when they run the football. They’ve got a really, really good receiver. No. 5, [Lideatrick] Griffin. Who is very, very productive. They’ve made a lot of explosive plays. … They play really good on special teams.”