Tyler Booker updates his health, reveals Alabama had players-only meeting after USF game

Alabama left guard Tyler Booker missed Saturday’s game at South Florida due to back spasms. Appearing on The Next Round on Monday morning, Booker shared an update on his injury.

“Yessir, a lot better,” said Booker when asked how he’s feeling. “The training staff thought it would be best I sit out this game and really heal up rather than going in the game and possibly making it worse. And then we also, as a team, have a lot of confidence in Terrence Ferguson. He played a great game.”

Without one of its best players, Alabama’s offensive line struggled in the 17-3 win over USF. The Crimson Tide (2-1) gave up five sacks for the second week in a row but was able to get the run game going late in the contest to add another score and take time off the game clock.

Booker said it was hard watching the team struggle when he was on the sideline.

“It’s really difficult because as the competitor that I am, I feel like if I was in the game, the result would be different,” Booker said. “But I have to control what I can control, and all I could control in that moment was just continuing to be a leader, tell the offensive line what I saw, tell them some tips that can help them. I feel like I did everything I can on that aspect of it.”

Alabama was favored by more than 30 points last week and needed a late, fourth-quarter score to go up by two touchdowns. A win is a win, but that kind of performance wasn’t up to the Tide’s standards, especially against a non-Power 5 opponent. A day after the road win, which saw UA drop in both national polls, the team held a players-only meeting, Booker revealed.

“Everybody got a lot of stuff off their chest, and I feel like everybody is on the same page now,” Booker said. “It’s unfortunate that it took a loss at Bryant-Denny and a sub-par game in Tampa for that to happen, but I feel like we’re all on the same page now and I’m actually excited to see how the rest of the season goes since we’re all on the same page.”

Asked if there were any “fractions” on the team, Booker disagreed and preached the importance of playing together, which was a theme of the meeting, the sophomore offensive guard said.

“I wouldn’t say there were any fractions,” Booker said. “I just feel like we just need to put an emphasis on togetherness. I’m not saying that we weren’t together, but we’re just emphasizing it more now. That was pretty much the emphasis of the whole meeting, just coming together and supporting each other. Not saying that we weren’t doing that before, but we’re just putting it on the forefront of everything. 

“Because if we all do our job as a unit – as an offensive line, if we do our job, if the running backs do their job, if the defensive backs do their job, if the wide receivers do their job, there’s really nobody that can stop us. We just all have to execute at the same time when we’re supposed to.”

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