WATCH: Trio of Alabama players speak ahead of ULM

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama has one again started its season 2-0 under Nick Saban. On Monday, the media spoke with the longtime Crimson Tide head coach, quarterback Bryce Young and outside linebacker Will Anderson Jr. ahead of the Louisiana-Monroe game.

Then on Tuesday afternoon, another trio of players were made available, including outside linebacker Dallas Turner, tight end Cameron Latu and defensive lineman Byron Young. We’ve had the pleasure of speaking with Latu and Young before, but this was Turner’s first time.

Below, we’ve included everything those guys said during that media availability.

Dallas Turner

On what he learned last year…

“What I learned the most probably is to always finish plays and always go hard, right or wrong. And I feel like that’s what I did last year as a freshman coming in and stepping up into that big role I had to fill.”

On his hit on Texas QB Quinn Ewers…

“Honestly, it was no intent to hurt Quinn Ewers, honestly. I feel like he’s a good quarterback, and I hope he has a very speedy recovery. But it was just a QB hit, and that’s how I looked at it. No intent to hurt him or nothing like that. No dirty play, nothing.”

On his partnership with Alabama LB Will Anderson…

“I feel like it’s always a party in the backfield with me and him on the field. We also play off each other, so he gives me energy and I give him energy. I look up to him as a big brother. I just appreciate him for everything he’s done for me.”

On his assessment of Alabama’s pass rush…

“In the first two games, I just feel like we applied a lot of pressure in the backfield and we have disrupted the quarterback in a way, as in like affecting him with QB hits and pressures and stuff like that, making the ball get out a lot faster. That’s what I feel like.”

On if he was surprised by getting flagged for his hit on Ewers…

“Yeah, I was very surprised to see a flag after that. But that’s football. Just gotta adjust to the game and just learn from it.”

On how the Texas offense looked when Hudson Card came in….

“We just treated him the same as Quinn Ewers. That’s just how we carried on in the game.”

On the competition at outside linebacker…

“I wouldn’t say it’s a competition because I get happy off other people’s success, especially the people in the outside linebacker room. So no matter who’s on the field, it’s no competition. We’re always just trying to hold our standard as an outside linebacker on the field. That’s just what we do.”

On how the adversity prepares the team for the rest of the season…

“I feel like it was just like a learning point that we had to go through early and so now we know what it feels like to be in a situation like that. And so now, I just feel like all we can do is just move on and grow from it.”

On if it is ever a race to the quarterback…

“Sometimes yeah. But majority of the time, we’re just trying to do our job and affect the quarterback in any type of way and make a play.”

On where he has grown the most from last year to now…

“I feel like my maturity on the field and understanding defenses and offenses a lot more. And also I feel like my pass rush has developed a little more as well. I feel like as a group, too, a lot of people have been getting better. That’s what I feel like.”

On how his pass rush has developed…

“I would say I’m starting to get more comfortable rushing against college offensive linemen because high school is not the same at all. That’s what I feel like.”

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Cameron Latu

On how tough it was to watch from the sidelines, how it feels being back…

“I would say it was pretty tough watching on the sideline vs. Utah State, only because that’s my home state and I would love to play vs them. Also, how much I can help the team and I felt like I was not only letting them down but I wanted to be out there. I wanted to help the team.

“It felt great. Just missing all of fall camp and not being with the team and watching all them, it was hard. Being out there, it kind of felt like a dream come true again. It just felt amazing.”

On if he got any recognition for his block on Jase McClellan’s lost TD run…

“It was a team effort from the whole group. Offensive line I think had great significant blocks, more than mine on that play. Mine just ended up being the last one that he had to slip by. Team effort, and we all just took it as a team.”

On what Alabama’s offense looks like at its best…

“I don’t know how to answer that question. We all know what we can do as an offensive unit. Obviously, we didn’t maybe go on the field and show that. But we’re going to practice today and get better as a team.”

On what he’s seen from the younger tight ends…

“I was very proud of all the tight ends that got in vs. Utah State. Even Robbie when he got in vs Texas, the development part is very, very good. As in they’re very young, so they don’t even have me out there during fall camp as an older guy to look up to. So they’re doing it all. I’m very proud of them, the way they’re coming along. It’s great.

“Robbie I would say has come a long way. I love Robbie. Just know he’s come a long way.”

On Alabama tight end coach Joe Cox…

“I love Coach Cox. Me and him have a great relationship. He’s the kind of guy who’s a perfectionist. He wants everything to be perfect. He grades us hard. He coaches us hard and expects the best from all of us.”

On Alabama getting the downfield passing game going…

“That’s not really a question for me to answer. You can ask Coach Saban about that.”

On Alabama building on its performance in the fourth quarter…

“Just the amount of toughness we had and just the ability to sustain throughout the game and just finish and know we had each other’s backs in an environment that was very hostile. Just come together and know we are brothers at the end of the day. Just build on that.”

On Alabama RB Jahmyr Gibbs being moved around, versatility on the team…

“We have a lot of talent in a lot of areas on the team. I am not an offensive coordinator, so I’m not going to just say what is going to be put into situations. Just know we have a lot of talent.”

On catches in the fourth quarter, relationship with Bryce Young…

“I feel like me and Bryce have a very good connection and relationship. Like I said, missing a bunch of time in camp, basically the whole camp, it is what it is at this point. We’re going to keep connecting, building the relationship we’ve been doing after practice, trying to catch up on the time we missed. We’re going to get back to where it was.”

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Byron Young

On Alabama’s run defense against Texas…

“I think it was really just the same thing we try to do every week. The first thing we talk about as a defensive line is stopping the run. We always focus on that. And then they say you gotta earn the right to rush the passer. So every single week we focus on staying in our gaps. We talk about the runs that they might run, whether it’s gap scheme or zone scheme so just being focused throughout the week on stopping the run.”

On Alabama OLB Dallas Turner…

“I think I’ve seen a lot from him from last year, really just to this year. He’s a guy that came in and he worked when he was a freshman. He was behind a lot of people last year. But he kept his head down and he worked last year. He really showed people what he could be. And this year he just continued to improve. He does everything the right way, he listens, he’s coachable. Just a real smart guy.” 

On Alabama’s defense not forcing zero turnovers so far…

“It’s discussed a lot. I think that’s something that we got to focus on more. I think that’s something we might have to be more intentional about, just in practice at times. We do a turnover circuit every single day and it’s something we take pride in and something that we know we’ve been known for in the past. So it’s something that bothers us and something that we really have to concentrate on going forward.” 

On the Alabama offense in a rhythm…

“They look really, really well. We got a lot of people on offense that can make plays. We have a really good offensive line that gives Bryce time to throw the ball and they create gaps so they can run the ball. They look really good in practice most days.” 

On stopping Texas QB Hudson Card…

“I think it was really just the same thing we had talked about all week, just not allowing him to get out of the pocket, not allowing them to try to extend plays with their legs. It really wasn’t anything that we had to make a huge adjustment for. I think it was something that really just came with game planning throughout the week.”

On what he’s seen from Alabama’s offensive line as far as physicality…

“I see the toughness and the aggressiveness from them. I see them being, as a unit, a great offensive line. There might be things that we have to work on as an offensive line, but even really as a team, to improve and I think we’ll get that done this week.” 

On left leg sleeve he was wearing…

“Oh, yeah, I just wear this in practice because I like the way it looks.”