Kalen DeBoer on Kaydn Proctor injury: 'It's one that we will be able to manage'

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer provided an update Monday about second-year offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor, who missed the season opener against Western Kentucky.

“Kadyn’s got a shoulder situation there,” DeBoer said. “It’s one that we will be able to manage. So that’s a positive. And it’ll be something as we go through the week that we’ll just continue to evaluate. It probably won’t be something early on here we’ll be rolling with, but, as the week goes on, it will be something we can continue to evaluate and be hopeful for.”

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Proctor went to the locker room during pregame warmups and came back out in street clothes wearing a sling on his left arm.

Proctor started all 14 games at left tackle for the Crimson Tide last year. He earned a spot on the All-SEC Freshman Team, although he did allow 12 sacks and 36 pressures during the 2023 season, according to Pro Football Focus.

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Proctor was a unanimous five-star prospect coming out of Southeast Polk High School in Pleasant Hill, Iowa. The 6-foot-7, 360-pound Des Moines native initially transferred to Iowa this offseason but ultimately returned to Alabama in the spring window.

With Proctor out this past weekend, redshirt sophomore Elijah Pritchett got the start. Pritchett was supposed to rotate in with redshirt freshman Wilkin Formby at right tackle. Pritchett and Formby battled in preseason for the starting right tackle job, after all.

“He has taken pretty much all his reps at the right tackle spot,” DeBoer said of Pritchett after the 63-0, season-opening win. “I think we really went back to what he did this spring, playing left tackle, and it was something I know gave me confidence and I’m sure it gave him [confidence, too]. He and [left guard] [Tyler] Booker took all those reps all spring long for 15 practices. And so I think they just really honed back in on that.”

DeBoer continued postgame: “I’ll watch the film, but obviously, there was a lot of good things that happened out there, and you don’t do that without great offensive line play. So excited about the way he responded all of a sudden in the moment and getting thrown into that position and really just being steady.”

Alabama scored 42 points in the first half against Western Kentucky and never looked back. Quarterback Jalen Milroe threw nine passes, and three of them went for touchdowns. He also carried the ball 10 times for 79 yards and two more scores. Milroe was one of five Crimson Tide players who found the end zone on the ground Saturday. Running back Justice Haynes was another: The sophomore coasted for 102 yards on four carries.

Alabama dominated Western Kentucky without Proctor, but the Crimson Tide want him back as soon as possible.