By Hunter Ford

In a brief Wednesday afternoon press conference, Nick Saban said Blake Sims is practicing as if he was never injured, and the Tide has had a good week of practice.

Earlier in the day, in his weekly teleconference, Saban said Sims began throwing the ball toward the end of last week.

“Blake has done really well in practice,” Saban said. “He hasn’t had any issues this week so far in terms of being able to throw the ball.  We’re really pleased with the way he’s progressed.  He’s been able to take all the reps he’s prescribed to take.”

Sims fell hard on his throwing shoulder during the Florida game and sat out briefly. He was able to continue playing against Florida before being relieved in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

Saban said the Tide had a good week of practice and “a good day today.” Alabama practiced indoors today in an effort to create noise in anticipation of a rowdy crowd in Oxford.

The “key to the drill,” Saban said, is “the discipline to execute and do your job, even in adverse situations. Anytime you play on the road you have to play through adversity.”

JACKSON AND BROWN STILL VYING FOR PLAYING TIME

Asked about the competition between Eddie Jackson and Tony Brown in the defensive backfield, Saban said “It’s still playing out.”

“It’s not done… it’s incomplete,” he said.

OLE MISS RUNNING STATS DECEIVING

Saban was asked about the Ole Miss running game, which has less than spectacular stats through four games. He said Ole Miss has a good offensive line and fast running backs that run well on the perimeter.  He said the Rebels’ running stats are deceiving because they use short passes like “toss sweeps” and run “smoke” and “bubble” screens depending on the defensive coverage.

COMPETITION RAMPS UP

Saban said the competition will get progressively tougher as the Tide continues through the SEC schedule. He said his team has yet to be challenged by an aggressive pass rush and it can expect much closer coverage on receivers.

Saban said linebacker Trey DePreist did a good job last season reading blocking assignments. He will need to do that against Ole Miss, as Saban said the Rebels run multiple offensive sets with both “zone” and “gap” blocking assignments.  In a nutshell, Saban said it is “complicated.”

“In every formation the keys are different,” Saban said.

Saban said he has been pleased, overall, with how his defense has played. He noted that Florida scored its points last week off of Tide turnovers.

“When you give the other team the ball like we did (in the Florida game)…they scored 21 points off of turnovers…I thought we played pretty well on defense,” Saban said.

INJURY/ILLNESS SIDELINE TWO PLAYERS

Running back Tyren Jones tore a tendon in one of his fingers which will require surgery. Offensive lineman Grant Hill has been recovering from an illness and is “questionable” to play this week according to Saban.

 

 

20 thoughts on “Saban: Sims throwing with ‘no issues,’ Ole Miss can move ball on ground via short pass”

    1. Yeah, that one is weird, isn’t it? It sounds very wrong. We’re missing something there. It’s certainly not a pattern or anything like what we’ve seen before in similar transfer cases, however, don’t forget, it doesn’t ruin her eligibility and she’s still under it despite already graduating. I just don’t buy that the university is simply being dlcks about the situation outright.

      Of course, I’m sure you think it is, and we’re all criminals for not running a headline story on it or something, but that’s the little brother in you screaming to get out and get your diaper changed.

      1. Shameful, Spiteful ….. Those are words used to describe the University of Alabama by national news organizations.

        http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/10/02/alabamas-treatment-of-former-player-daisha-simmons-is-shameful/

        http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2014/10/01/daisha-simmons-wanted-to-transfer-closer-to-home-to-be-with-her-sick-brother-alabama-wont-give-its-permission/

        http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/alabama-blocks-seton-hall-player-eligibility-transfers-sick-brother-article-1.1961827

        http://www.app.com/story/sports/2014/09/30/daisha-simmons-rutgers-seton-hall-alabama-womens-basketball-gill-st-bernards/16493385/

        http://nypost.com/2014/10/02/how-dumb-ncaa-rule-is-hurting-future-of-womens-hoop-player/

        1. This is interesting. Of course New York media outlets have no love lost for Alabama hmmmm Oh well freedom of speech and all that

  3. First of all pot…. Theres no way in hell she didnt know about her brothers lllness before she signed w Bama…this aint something that happens overnight… You can google it if youd like! Secondly its one kidney failing…news flash you only need one to live so its not like hes on his death bed!So seems to me a university is finally calling bullshit because shes trying to use her brothers illness to get passed an obligation she made! Also in one part of the story it says bama doesnt offer a mba and a paragraph later it says she wasnt accepted into their mba program! So which is it? Nice try though!

    1. Court of public opinion and human decency does not agree with you, but that should come as no surprise given the shameful culture at the Capstone. Go ahead and try to defend an indefensible position it only further illustrates the cult like shameful culture at the Capstone.

      1. Wow.

        You are truly lost, Pot. You are the perfect fit for Auburn. Amazing. There is no hope for you.

  4. oh its absolutely defensible, its just that your small mind is already made up because of your undenible envy of Alabama, so i wont continue to confuse you with the facts! keep hating boy you wear it so well!!!!

  8. shes being held accountable for her end of the deal! get over it! maybe you should focus on how your schools coach can suspend his starting QB(cheech marshall) for a half a game for weed but suspend his best defensive player (whitehead) for an entire game for a verbal altercation w an ASSistant coach! just a though there moral police! btw one of the two afformentioned incidents is illegal the other is not…can you guess which one?

  9. who gives a crap about puzzy journalist who do not understand competition…the grad release program is pretty rough …bama did the right thing

  11. Hey Losers
    You are out of playoff. How do you feel? This is the first of the Mullet U self implosion. After losses to Texas A&M Arky and Miss St, AU will trounced your ass 48-0 at the Mullet Mecca stadium. All the rednecks will be out trying to poison trees and tea bagging. We will have to call out the National Guard to keep Lame safe from the most insane fanbase.

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