Nick Saban provides injury update for Alabama QB Bryce Young
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Alabama lost star quarterback Bryce Young midway through the second quarter of Saturday’s 49-26 victory over Arkansas. Initially, there wasn’t a play that stood out as far as causing the injury. Upon further review, it was revealed that Young injured his shoulder trying to get rid of the football near the sidelines on a third-down play.
Young came out for the ensuing drive, but he didn’t attempt another pass until third down. That’s why the reigning Heisman Trophy winner realized there was a problem. He came to the sidelines and almost immediately entered the medical tent. After spending quite some time in there, he jogged to the locker room prior to the half.
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There was an initial fear that the injury was severe, but Young emerged with teammates for the second half. It was even reported that he was questionable to return. Fortunately, he wasn’t needed as the Crimson Tide withstood an unanswered 23-point run by the Razorbacks and took hold of the game in the fourth quarter.
After the game, Alabama head coach Nick Saban revealed that it was a sprain to Young’s AC joint.
“Bryce has a little AC sprain in his shoulder,” Saban told reporters after the game. “You know, we’ll have to take it day-to-day. I think he’s OK. He doesn’t have a serious injury. We didn’t think he could go back in the game today because I didn’t think he had much steam throwing the ball.
“He’s had these before and in a few days, it starts to respond pretty well. We’ll just have to see how it goes and play it day-to-day.”
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It’s interesting to learn that Young has dealt with this sort of issue before. At the same time, it’s encouraging because we know that it hasn’t affected his performance to any noticeable degree. From the sound of it, the junior quarterback could be back as soon as the Texas A&M game, but as Saban noted, we’ll have to wait and see.
This news is about as good as it could’ve been given how things were looking after it happened.
Young completed seven of his 13 pass attempts against the Razorbacks. Those seven completions went for 173 yards and a touchdown, while one of his incompletions was an interception. Overall, he was trending towards another big day before the injury.
Alabama will be back at home in Week 6 with Texas A&M coming to Tuscaloosa. The Aggies lost big to the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon, dropping their record to 4-2 on the year. Still, next Saturday’s game is certain to be an emotional one after the offseason feud between Saban and A&M coach Jimbo Fisher.
