Nick Saban matter-of-fact on Alabama QBs after second scrimmage
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama’s second and final preseason scrimmage is now in the books, and head coach Nick Saban was asked about the Crimson Tide’s quarterback competition in his post-scrimmage meeting with local reporters. But Saban didn’t divulge much Saturday.
“They all got to play,” said Saban when asked what he saw from the quarterback group. “They all took snaps. They all completed some passes. They all made some throws that weren’t as good as they should have been. And they all got sacked. That’s what I saw.”
Neither Saban nor Alabama released stats from the last scrimmage of fall camp, but according to those in attendance, Jalen Milroe was the first quarterback to work with the first offense, while Ty Simpson opened the scrimmage with the twos. All five of the quarterbacks earned reps, with Milroe, Simpson, Tyler Buchner and Dylan Lonergan splitting up snaps with the first and second offenses, at least early on, during the two-hour outing inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Sources confirmed to BamaOnLine that Buchner threw the first touchdown pass of the day while working with the first offense, which ended up in the hands of wide receiver Kobe Prentice. Later on, Lonergan connected with wideout Kendrick Law for a long score on the second team.
While he didn’t share much in regard to his thoughts on the quarterbacks’ performance, Saban was asked about the progress of Lonergan, one of two true freshmen that enrolled early.
“He’s done really well,” Saban said. “He shows great ability, great potential. I think that the thing that he needs is experience. And everybody says, ‘Well, what’s experience? What’s your ability to self-assess?’ I have a better ability to self-assess right now than when I was 18, I don’t know about you guys, aight. So how do you learn how to do that? Through experience.
“You have experiences, you make mistakes, you mess up. You say, ‘Well, I’m not gonna do that again.’ And that’s how you learn and progress. He’s a talented guy and certainly a guy that we wanna continue to try to develop. But he’s done a nice job so far in camp.”
Alabama will take Sunday and Monday off before returning to the field Tuesday, Aug. 22. It will practice five straight times before another break on Aug. 27 prior to the first game week.
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