http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20081118/SPORTS0401/811180341
Alabama has “a lot of bumps and bruises” and can could use a week off, head coach Nick Saban said, before the top-ranked Crimson Tide prepares for its annual Iron Bowl showdown with Auburn on Nov. 29.
Saban addressed the media on Monday but gave the players the day off. Alabama will resume practice today with “each guy working to improve this week and doing things we need to do to improve as a team,” Saban said. “This is also a time that academics are important. It is getting toward the end of the semester, there are only so many days left. Guys have a little bit of time to get caught up, rested up, healed up. But from a football standpoint, we want to improve on the fundamental execution and discipline of what we are doing as much as we can.”
Saban usually focuses on unusual formations or special plays utilized by future opponents during an open date, but with only Auburn and Florida remaining as well as an unnamed bowl opponent, there isn’t a lot of future planning to be done.
“We are not really starting practicing for our next opponent,” Saban said. “We do that in a routine, but if that opponent does some things that we haven’t seen, we will certainly work on it a little bit in practice.”
Saban said he expected tailback Roy Upchurch (neck) and receiver Earl Alexander (shoulder) to return to practice this week after sitting out last week recovering from injuries, but both will “be evaluated on a day-to-day basis to see how they respond” and will be joined by fifth-year senior receiver Will Oakley and linebacker Rolando McClain on the injured list.
Montgomery Adviser
11/18/08
Magnolia Tribune
