Alabama’s first SEC availability report of the season brought a familiar kind of Wednesday-week tension, with a starting offensive lineman landing on the list ahead of Saturday’s trip to Kentucky.
No. 12 Alabama opens conference play on the road against Kentucky at 2:30 p.m.
CT, and the league’s injury-report system - mandatory for SEC football games, basketball and baseball matchups - is now in play for the Crimson Tide. The initial report lists players as probable, questionable, doubtful or out, while game day brings the next step: game-time decision or out.
If a player disappears from the report, he’s cleared for the game.
The biggest name to surface for Alabama on the first release is starting right guard Geno VanDeMark. The reason for his inclusion wasn’t clear, and head coach Kalen DeBoer didn’t reference an injury for him during Monday’s press conference. It’s possible the issue came up Tuesday or Wednesday.
If VanDeMark can’t play against Kentucky, Alabama’s next option at right guard would be Ole Miss transfer Ethan Fields. Mal Waldrep is also in the mix, with the staff having split first-team reps between him and Will Sanders for a while. Sanders ultimately won the starting left guard job shortly before the season opener.
DeBoer also addressed several other players who appeared on the initial report, including safety Jireh Edwards (arm), running back AK Dear (ankle) and wide receiver Noah Rogers (knee).
“I think your guys that are the closest are Jireh and AK, and then Noah just down the road here, just a little bit,” DeBoer said. “But wanted to get them out there, just keep the progression part of their transitions back. But I think Jireh and AK you can see here very soon, and all three, just their process of recovery has gone very smooth, probably quicker than you’d expect, but we also got to be careful.”
Defensive lineman Jeremiah Beaman is also on the report, and he’ll remain there for the rest of the season after tearing his ACL in practice about two weeks before the opener. Beaman also tore his ACL in Week 1 of the 2025 season.
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