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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Although the University of Alabama offense has exceeded 500 total yards in each of its three games this season the Crimson Tide could get one of its biggest playmakers back this week, DeAndrew White.
The senior wide receiver has missed the last two games after sustaining a shoulder injury in the opener against West Virginia. White is expected to practice all week as Alabama prepares for its Southeastern Conference opener against Florida (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS).
“We’ll kind of see how it goes with him and make a decision later in the week and see if we think he’s able to go out there and play,” Nick Saban said during his Monday press conference. “He did practice some last week so we’re encouraged by the progress that he made.”
Saban also announced that senior safety Jarrick Williams, who two weeks ago had a screw surgically inserted to repair a small fracture in his foot, would begin running this week, but was a “longshot” to play against the Gators.
The coach expects everyone else to be full-go for Tuesday’s practice. Junior running back T.J. Yeldon (hamstring), sophomore cornerback Eddie Jackson (quad), and junior linebacker Denzel Devall (shoulder) all left last week’s game against Southern Miss, a 52-12 victory.
“He’s a playmaker,” Cooper said about White on Monday. “He has good speed. A great route runner so he’s just a great receiver overall.”
White had six receptions for 73 yards when he took a hit and landed hard on his shoulder during Alabama’s first possess of the second half. At the time, junior wide receiver Amari Cooper had eight catches for 86 yards.
Since then, Cooper has had 25 receptions for 368 yards, while no one else has more than seven (senior Christion Jones), prompting Saban to state that the offenses needs to get more playmakers involved.
“They need to have confidence and we need to have confidence in them, and we have guys that have capabilities, so the other team can’t zero in on one guy,” he said.
Christopher Walsh has covered Alabama football since 2004 and is the author of 19 books. In his free time, he writes about college football.
