Everything Alabama DB Jordan Battle said ahead of Utah State

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama safety Jordan Battle could’ve left early for the NFL. Instead, he chose to return to Tuscaloosa because of some unfinished business. The senior spoke to the media on Tuesday ahead of the Crimson Tide’s season opener against Utah State.

Below, you can check out everything Battle said during his media availability.

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On Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold…

“Terrion is one of my little brothers. He has progressed really well on the field and off the field. He’s becoming more of a leader as a young guy for this team. He’s stepping up to the role very well. He’s playing very well and he’s playing very confident. I think that’s what has really changed from last year is his confidence. With his confidence, he’s playing very well and we like that.”

On what he’s seen in the cornerback battle…

“It’s been a great competition between the corners. Every day they’re coming out and competing, whether it’s Khyree, Eli, Terrion, Kool-Aid, they’re all competing. None of them are showing any emotion. They’re just going out there and doing what they need to do to get on the field. I feel like that’s a good thing. They’re all being competitive within each other. They’re all talking, going to meetings, going to film after practice together. They’re all on the same page.”

On Alabama freshman receiver Kobe Prentice…

“Kobe is a very funny guy, a very cool guy. Very humble. He’s very fast. He has good routes. He’s playing very well with the first group. You can see he’s very confident as well, being a young guy, being a freshman. He kind of reminds me of a guy like JoJo. JoJo was very confident when he got here last year. He’s a very good guy for us and he can make big plays any game for us.”

On Alabama receiver Traeshon Holden…

“Traeshon has kind of stepped into that leadership role as well. Probably one of the oldest guys in the group. He’s been here the longest. He’s playing very well. You can see from last year he progressed and now he’s getting even more better. He’s understanding the concepts within the offense, and you can see that he’s playing very well within the scheme.”

On cornerbacks not showing emotions and if that’s common…

“As a corner, you understand your job is very significant on defense. You’re on the island. They always describe the corner as being on the island. They have to have that confidence to be on the island, and I feel like all the corners we have have the confidence to be on that island. They connect very well on and off the field. They’re always in meetings and film together, trying to correct each other. I feel like that’s a good thing to have, a good relationship to have between corners.”

On what he has learned about Utah State’s offense…

“Just understanding gaps. They spread you out with the offense with the receivers. They try to run around the perimeter. We’ve got to understand that we have to play the run first then pass or understand situations to play the pass vs. the run. They can’t allow the running back to get around the perimeter. We have to understand as safeties to play the run and the pass. We can’t just focus on the pass (inaudible words) run around the perimeter. Just understanding the gaps.”

On if it’s special getting start his senior year at home…

“I haven’t really thought about it yet. But now that you say something, it is pretty amazing being that I’ve been here about to be four years and never started off with a game at Bryant-Denny. It’s kind of fun to start the season at Bryant-Denny. Start over at Bryant-denny with all the fans. Pretty sure it will be packed because it’s the first game. So excited to give them a show.”

On how excited he is that it’s finally game week…

“I’m very excited. It’s been a while. I feel like it’s been a while since January. Now that it’s here, it is very exciting. Kind of have anxiety. Kind of anxious to get on the field and hit somebody else. We’ve been hitting each other for the past few months, so kind of fun to get out there and compete with somebody else.”

On the difference between his confidence level now compared to freshman year…

“I have tremendous confidence in the defense of course. I’ve been here for three years under guys like Pat, Xavier McKinney, Jared Mayden, Shyheim Carter. Just learning from them guys and being able to instill what they handed over to me, just being able to grow as that leader for this team, I really thank them for that. I really feel like I have grown leadership wise, grown on the field, grown in how to study film, just growing in the little things like that. I thank those guys, and I thank Coach Saban. I thank Coach Scott who was here before Coach Valai and Coach T-Rob who is here now. Coach Kelly as well. I thank those guys who are evolving me as a player and helping me grow.”

On the offensive line…

“The o-line is growing with chemistry. Tyler Steen has gotten in and grown in confidence. Being able to compete with Will Anderson every day, he’s gotten better. Older guys like Kendall Randolph trying to be a leader. Darrian Dalcourt being a leader. Emil, and Javion Cohen are trying to be leaders. And JC also stepping into a big leader. He’s grown very well. The o-line is getting better and better every day. You can see them competing with the d-line every day. Kind of have scuffles here and there, but you know that’s going to happen. You’re at Alabama, competing every day. It’s kind of fun seeing the o-line and d-line compete.”

On if he knew Tyler Steen in high school…

“Tyler Steen, I knew him before we got here. We were kind of close. I think he was playing o-line and d-line in high school. So on defense, we were kind of loaded. On defense at STA. He has grown very well. He did speak to me, reach out to me before he made his decision to come here. I told him it’s going to be work. It’s Alabama. Don’t expect it to be easy. It’s going to be hard. So he understood that and he wanted to take that role and be able to compete with us. Thankful for that.”

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