Injuries testing depth in Alabama's secondary during critical stretch

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A mark of any great football team is having quality depth, and the depth on the back end of this Alabama defense is being put to the test in late October at a monumental junction of the season.

“I think at this time of the year every single team is probably dealing with something. Maybe a guy down, or some kind of adverse situation they’re going through, so you have to have a next man up mentality. I think you guys have heard me sit here in front of you and talk about depth for a long time,” Alabama cornerbacks coach Maurice Linguist said Wednesday. “We’re in a situation like most teams right now where maybe some of these guys who maybe were not starters at the beginning of the year, we’re relying upon to have meaningful reps for us. At the end of the day no excuses, we’ve got to find a way to go battle in the SEC and go find a way to go get a W.”

The starters in the Alabama secondary started to drop like flies during last week’s game against Tennessee, thrusting many reserves into prominent roles.

At safety, Keon Sabb suffered a foot injury early on in the the game, leading to a major uptick in snaps from Bray Hubbard. Starting husky DeVonta Smith and backup Red Morgan also got banged up in the game, leading to increased time for King Mack.

“Next man up mentality,” Alabama safeties coach Colin Hitschler said. “Obviously, individual plays they’d each like to have back, but some big moments and plays that each of them were able to make. They’re just gonna keep growing and getting better, and the next game’s the most important one.”

Hubbard specifically has drawn praise from a number of coaches this week for his performance in the wake of Sabb’s exit. He’s going to be leaned on heavily over the next few weeks, with Sabb set to be ‘down for a while,’ per head coach Kalen DeBoer on Monday.

“The message has always been the same for him, and that’s one of the coolest things about him is he was ready to be a starter from day one,” Hitschler said of Hubbard. “The second it happened and he had to go out there, the confidence was already there. There’s no special message, it’s just go do your thing.”

Even in the cornerback room Alabama is dealing with injuries. Domani Jackson stayed healthy after leaving the South Carolina game and returning, but on the other side, Zabien Brown left the game early and didn’t return.

Linguist was confident that Brown will be ‘ready to go,’ but spoke highly of the way Jaylen Mbakwe played in his place, as well as how he’s grown over the course of the season.

“What you’re seeing come alive right now, like an 18-year-old guy, Bak, who just made his first career interception at Tennessee,” Linguist said. “Maybe a month and a half ago, he wasn’t the caliber of guy that he’s trending into now. So we know that through the back half of the season we have to continue to develop the depth of the roster.”

The ‘next man up’ mentality that’s been echoed by Linguist and Hitschler also came from the top on Monday, as defensive coordinator Kane Wommack expressed the urgency that these situations call for.

“There’s always a next-man-up mentality. Those guys have to be ready at a moment’s notice. You talk about those things, you have a sense of urgency in practice. The guys that are rolling with the twos that, at any moment, they can step in and have a major impact on the game — certainly a game like this where you had a number of defensive backs that went down,” Wommack said. “You can point to this and say, hey, this is why it’s so critical that you have the same level of urgency as the guy that may be going out with the starting defense, because at any given moment, you’re going to come in and have a tremendous impact on the game, on way or another, whether you’re prepared for it or not.”