Prior to a primetime battle against Georgia on Saturday, Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer is confident about the status of another injured starter who has already returned to action.
Star safety Malachi Moore, who ranks third on the team with 16 tackles, suffered a head injury against Wisconsin on September 14; however, he followed procedure and returned to practice late last week, DeBoer informed reporters on Monday.
Qua Russaw, the outside linebacker who assumed the starting position but was injured in the lower leg during the game against Wisconsin, is still rehabilitating.
“Qua still taking the steps, still working through his situation,” said DeBoer. “I have hope for Qua. We’ll simply have to wait and see how that plays out for him as we assess throughout the week.”
This season, Russaw has racked up eight tackles, including a quarterback hurry and one tackle for loss.
DeBoer also provided an update on the health of two other injured players, Richard Young, a running back, and wide receiver Cole Adams.
On September 7, Adams hurt his arm against South Florida.
“Cole practiced here — not 100% of practice — but he’s out there competing and doing some things with the activities that we have, even some competitive drills,” DeBoer stated. “So we’re just working him back slowly.”
Young is in a similar scenario to Adams after suffering a lower leg injury versus Wisconsin.
This season, Young, a backup to co-starters Jam Miller and Justice Haynes, has nine carries for 27 yards.
“He’s been out there, been in uniform and going through the drills and working back slowly,” DeBoer said on Young. “You never want to give up during the bye week. However, we also needed to ensure that we were treating these guys wisely and that they wouldn’t have any setbacks.
“So both those guys are in the same boat.”
