Alabama may be heading into Saturday’s trip to Tennessee with a shorthanded roster, and the biggest concern sits with Ryan Coleman-Williams.
Kalen DeBoer said Monday that the wide receiver is dealing with both a knee issue and a head injury, and the outlook does not sound especially promising for this weekend. DeBoer said Coleman-Williams has been managing a knee problem that has lingered, and then added, “Got the head issue as well. Gonna address that... this week, and pretty good chance we wouldn’t have him this weekend, I think it’d probably be week-to week after that.
That’s a significant note for Alabama, especially after Coleman-Williams left Saturday’s game with what looked like a left leg problem late in the first half, then returned after halftime before exiting for good following a helmet-to-helmet hit that was not flagged for targeting.
If Coleman-Williams is unavailable, Alabama does have options at receiver. Rico Scott stands out as one, with Cederian Morgan and Derek Meadows also in the mix. Ryan Grubb also said Noah Rogers is close to 100% after an offseason injury.
The offensive line is dealing with its own uncertainty. Racin Delgatty, who took over as Alabama’s starting center this season after transferring in from Cal Poly, went down late in the fourth quarter Saturday with a lower-leg injury.
DeBoer said, “With Racin, just with his injury, lower-leg injury, we’ll just continue to evaluate him and see where he’s at in the days ahead. So obviously he’ll be pretty sore and kind of working through things and limited, for sure, early in the week...
Grubb said Mal Waldrep is the next man up at center if Delgatty can’t play. Waldrep had been in the battle for a starting guard spot this offseason before losing that job to Will Sanders, and his move inside would tighten an already thin line rotation. Sanders has dealt with injuries at times this year, making Delgatty’s status even more important.
Grubb stayed cautiously upbeat about Delgatty after the injury, saying, “We’ll see what happens with Race,” Grubb said. “They braced it up at the end, but we’ll see. Jeff (Allen) is working his tail off to see what we can get.”
There’s also concern on the defensive side with Terrance Green, who has been making an impact up front. DeBoer said Green’s injury has been a lingering one, noting, “Terrance, just keep evaluating his injury. Has been going on for a couple weeks now.”
DeBoer previously said Green was hurt against Mississippi State, and that he later reaggravated the issue against Georgia.
Alabama heads to Knoxville to face Tennessee on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT, with the game on ABC.
In Other News...
Alabama Faces Ugly Fallout After Tense Georgia Finish
Alabama spent the postgame answering for much more than a hard-fought loss to Georgia, as the athletic department moved quickly to address what happened in the stands after the final whistle. Following the close finish and a night already defined by disputed officiating calls, fans threw garbage, including water bottles and beer cans, onto the field, creating an ugly scene that forced a public address announcement and had Georgia players keeping their helmets on as they made their way out.
The schools statement condemned the conduct as unacceptable, said it was gathering information and made clear it will not tolerate that kind of behavior. For Alabama, the fallout from a tense SEC showdown now stretches beyond the scoreboard, with the focus shifting to what comes next for a program that has long prided itself on home-field standards as much as results. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Fans Are Livid Over One Bigger SEC Question
Saturdays Alabama-Georgia game delivered the kind of heavyweight SEC finish that gets replayed and dissected long after the final whistle, but much of the attention afterward drifted away from the scoreboard and toward the officiating. Several moments drew scrutiny across social media, with players and commentators voicing frustration and confusion over how the game was called, a familiar kind of postgame noise in a rivalry game that already carries plenty of emotional weight.
For Alabama fans, the bigger concern now is what the conference does next, or whether it says anything at all. The late-game sequence under the microscope has only sharpened the debate, especially because the SEC has not issued a statement yet, and there is recent precedent for the league taking action after a controversial call in another game. Until the conference addresses it, the frustration around this one is likely to keep simmering. [Read more 🡒]
Florida Just Got Another Painful Reminder Of Where This Program Stands
The Coaches Poll got a fresh shakeup after a wild weekend, and the ripple effects reached well beyond the top of the board. Texas, which had been sitting at No. 1, was one of the biggest losers after falling to Oklahoma, while UCLA climbed after its upset win and teams like LSU and Oregon slid in the other direction as voters reworked the order heading into the next round of games.
Wake Forest also moved into the rankings, a reminder of how quickly the poll can turn when a few key results land the wrong way. For programs like Florida, the bigger takeaway is less about who rose and fell in one chaotic week and more about the gap the rankings still reflect, with the nations elite separating themselves fast and leaving everyone else trying to keep pace. [Read more 🡒]