Everything Kalen DeBoer said after Alabama's first preseason scrimmage

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama held its first preseason scrimmages at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday. Shortly after the 2-hour workout, head coach Kalen DeBoer spoke to reporters in the media room. Below is everything DeBoer said about the first scrimmage of fall camp.

DeBoer’s opening statement…

“It was good to be out there. Scrimmage 1 in the stadium. Good to be in your surroundings and get familiar with that. It’s been since the spring game. Ran I think it was 102 plays, maybe give-or-take one or two— 81 with the 1s and 2s. Pretty balanced there, I think it was 40 to 41 plays. And then 21 plays, if I’m doing my math right, with the 3s. Good give-and-take. Got some explosive plays, some tackles for loss. Obviously from my standpoint, you want the defense to do better on the explosive plays and not give those up. And then you’re proud of the offense and vice versa with the tackles for loss and sacks and things like that. 

“One thing I’ve seen over the last few practices, we’ve had the officials there. You know, it’s always going to be that way early in camp, some penalties and things like that. I thought we did a lot better job today, really did a really good job actually when I think about it. I don’t know the number, but very few. So guys were out there playing ball and just understand the rhythm, tempo. Really trying to take advantage of being in here. You’ve got the coach-to-player communication. We use that every day in practice. It shuts off with 15 seconds, but really simulated with the officials and what that looks like pretty much down to the second. So got some good work there.

“And then also the tablet, iPad on the sideline. We took two breaks of six minutes or so, just to get on the sideline and be able to understand what that looks like. Because at this point, we aren’t really able to practice that in our complex during normal practices. Just using that and really understanding what the benefit is to take advantage of the confirmation or learning opportunities that can happen in between drives during the breaks that we had today, but also not dwelling on it so much as to where it affects our mindset and where our poise and confidence is heading into the next drive.

“Proud of the guys. Thought they did a really good job. Staying relatively healthy, just your typical fall camp stuff. Guys dinged up here and there, but nothing more than what you’d expect.”

DeBoer on what he saw from Jalen Milroe, the other quarterbacks…

“I thought the plays that are there and you need to make that throw, I think they’re doing that at a higher level, not just today, but throughout camp getting better at it. And a lot of that’s trust in your guys around you that they’re going to be where you anticipate them being, especially in those moments when you get a little bit of pressure, you get a little bit of a rush around you and just managing it.

“I still think there’s a time or two where we could throw the ball away, and I’m not just talking about Jalen. I’m talking about all of them. It’s across the board. Just to keep us out of those situations where it turns into a third-and-extra long or something like that. That’s just here and there, that’s not something that’s happening a lot. But it’s one of those that just kills a drive. And when you get 11 or 12 a game, everyone one of them’s important. Those are great learning moments, and we had a lot of those opportunities again today where we just get rid of the football, live to see another down. We’ve got a lot of plays that can get us first downs as long as it’s reasonable.”

DeBoer on Jam Miller, Alabama’s running backs…

“I thought we hit a couple explosives. Jam had a nice play down in the red zone there. A lot of it was the offensive line, as it always is. I think there’s some schemes we’re really good at. And our defense obviously on the other end can continue to work on defending. And then I think there’s some things we know you’re gonna need to do that we’ve just got to continue to work on. And that’s part of the process of the line being all in sync.

“But one thing I’ll just say about our running backs, they’re very versatile. And if they maybe don’t get those seams as much as they want in the run game, shoot, they’re a threat in the pass game. I don’t care if it’s checking out and we swing it out to them in the flat, or if it’s really one of the primary route-runners that’s getting out of the backfield there. They’re doing a good job just all around. Both Jam and Justice have taken pretty much all the reps with the 1s there. They did a great job running the football, physical. Really not many times where you’re just like, ‘Oh, come on,’ or anything like that. So I just really feel that we’ve got a great, solid backfield with both of those guys.”

DeBoer on potentially required injury reports; how it related to gambling…

“That’s the main reason why I understand it’s presented to us. It was sometime in the spring, I can’t remember what meeting it was, but it’s been discussed. And I get it. I get why it could be necessary, helpful. I talk to our guys all the time about, obviously the gambling from their end and how that’s not allowed and you can’t get involved in that, but also any information getting out of our program and how that impacts the outside world, outside of our bubble. So I get it, and whatever we’ve gotta do, whatever they put in place, we’ll abide by it.”

DeBoer on players lining up correctly, doing things correctly procedurally…

“The offense maybe drew the defense off one time. So just procedure-wise, I don’t know if there was any false starts offensively, no illegal formations, no movements. If there was, maybe it was one that I can’t remember, but that’s where I think we were pretty clean. So the mental mistakes, or what I would call a foolish penalty where we’re just not sharp, really kind of honed in on that here. So I think we took the next step with the other penalties too. Really not much from a holding, I don’t know if we got any holding calls out there. We had one kind of illegal block back, crackback block that was really good for us to actually have happen because we can learn from that and talk through that. Maybe one pass interference. The penalties were really down and minimal. So I like the way we’re having some urgency and we’ll move around offensively. The guys are all getting set, so all the processes that we have in place, the guys are doing a really good job.”

DeBoer on the biggest area of concern…

“Probably just staying healthy, you know? Again, I feel good about where we’re at. This will be our biggest scrimmage. This will be the most plays that we run. Next week we’ll have a scrimmage too, but it won’t be quite as many, it’ll be solid. But just being healthy. We need all the rep. We have some veterans, there’s no doubt about it, but we certainly have a lot of young guys that need to continue to develop and that are important. If they’re not in the ones, they’re definitely in the two rotation, so those reps are invaluable for those guys, not just for them but also the trust that it takes as a whole unit. So I think that’s the biggest thing, just because our youth is there around different position groups. Guys are doing great jobs with their bodies. Anytime they have a chance there, extra time, they’re in the training room doing a good job. And Just before practice, after practice, doing what they should. Being a pro. And those championship habits, you can see them really take them and place an importance on them.”

DeBoer on Alabama’s defensive line…

“I think the threes really got a lot of pressure, of course. So I think you’re more focused on the ones and twos. I would say there’s times where they got home and it was more of the real, obvious pass downs. There were maybe two drives I can think of, one with the ones, one with the twos, where it was back-to-back and the offense kind of got on their heels. I also see the offensive line, slowly, like coming together, and being in sync, understanding where their help is. So, where it was at, it’s kind of like the spring where the offense was slowly starting to catch up to where they should be. But it’s been a good consistent pass rush, and I think a lot of that is strength in numbers. When the guys are out there they’re fresh on the defensive line. They’re competitive and trying to win a position and playing time. So the strength in numbers is really good for our whole unit, I think defensively, especially up front.”

DeBoer on Alabama’s pass-catchers…

“The ball was spread around. You know, when you have scrimmages like this, we’ll personnel things and we’ll get guys in a gameplan. Right now, especially in a first scrimmage, a lot of it is just, you’re just lining up and — we call it X, Y, Z and H — those guys are playing those spots. So the ball really gets spread around. If we look at the stat sheet it would be almost every receiver catching balls. So it’s not really just one guy had 5-to-7 catches. They all walk away from a day like today disappointed, you know, and there’s no reason to be disappointed. It’s just because everyone gets involved, everyone gets their touches, you know. So it’s not like anyone was highlighted today. There’s just good, solid plays. Plays that I’d expect guys to make, and they made them. You didn’t really see the ball on the ground when there’s clear-cut catches and that’s what I like. The plays that should be made, they were being made.”

DeBoer on how scrimmages help clarify position battles…

“I think it’s good. Especially when it comes to getting guys on the ground and tackling. We, you know, the rules now changed to where really practice six is the first time you put on pads — full pads. So that was our first time really tackling. This wasn’t the first day taking guys to the ground but it really emphasizes all those drills you’ve been doing to this point, and now it’s live for 102 plays. I thought our guys did a good job running to the ball, tackling. There’s also the other side of it too, you want to see who can make people miss when you create space for them. There’s a time or two where the offense should win. They’re out in wide open space, and you’ve got to make that guy miss. It’s how the defender knows where his help’s at, knows where the sideline’s at, and uses those things to minimize what that gain’s gonna be. It’s all about football and the situation and that’s why I emphasize to our team right there at the end of practices, these football moments and situations you’re in, understanding them.”

DeBoer on players people aren’t talking about this preseason…

“Oh man, I apologize. I don’t even know who’s on the watch lists right now. I saw maybe, who did I see? CJ, yeah. We could go on down, but I’m not sure exactly who’s on those watch lists or not. The guys, it’s a cool moment for them but it comes and goes pretty quick, you know. Hopefully, we’re talking about those guys and those awards at the end of the year. Sorry, I’m not as in tuned to that as I should be.”

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