By outreach@cw.ua.edu (Matthew Speakman)
In its second day of full pads, the Alabama football team practiced with clear skies and warm weather. The sun shined down as the players worked through some of the usual drills during the fourth media viewing period of the spring.
Coach Nick Saban, per usual, was working with the secondary as it did multiple drills. He did his usual, head-down clapping motion that is usually accompanied with watching the secondary perform. Practice on Friday was fairly routine.
Notes:
With Saban, the safeties worked on changing direction and intercepting throws. Many of the players saw the ball just tip off the edge of their fingers, which appeared to happen because of the throws. The cornerbacks, such as Marlon Humphrey, worked on back peddling and changing direction. The players then transitioned to picking up fumbled balls off the ground. Tony Brown worked with corners for the second straight practice.Inside linebackers worked on acceleration and running low for most of the viewing period. Players, like Reuben Foster, then worked on picking up fumbles off the ground.Outside linebackers fine-tuned their ability to get around blockers, practicing strength and pass-rushing moves, specifically swim moves. The players had to get around their teammates who imitated blockers, using a lot of different moves.Quarterbacks, such as Blake Barnett, threw deep passes to the wide receivers before transitioning to shorter routes.The offensive line worked mostly on sled drills, hitting it with force to improve blocking strength and technique.The running backs, such as Bo Scarborough, worked on changing direction while running low. The players had to run under an obstruction and pivot at each point.Former Alabama player Josh Chapman, who was hired to be an assistant strength and conditioning coach, observed the defensive line during drills. Chapman played nose tackle from 2007-11. …read more
Source:: The Crimson White Sports
