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What's next for Alabama football after losing WR Cole Adams to season-ending injury?
- Story byThe Tuscaloosa News
- What's next for Alabama football after losing WR Cole Adams to season-ending injury?
For Kalen DeBoer , Cole Adams is nearly irreplaceable for Alabama football.
The redshirt freshman did a bit of everything for the Crimson Tide , serving as a slot receiver and blocker for the offense, and the team's go-to punt returner on special teams.
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Adams is a player DeBoer learned a lot about as the receiver worked his way back from an arm injury he suffered Week 2 against South Florida .
"Honestly, at the time, I probably thought that was going to be something more significant as far as the time frame with the first one," DeBoer said Monday. "Just seeing the effort he put into that first injury, you really found out a lot about who he was as a person, as a player. Just the toughness he had and, unfortunately, he had another injury here now, lower-body injury. So he'll be done with the season here this year."
Alabama now has holes to fill on offense and special teams that had already been apparent in recent weeks with short-term injuries to Kendrick Law and Kobe Prentice .
What's next for Alabama football WR room without Cole Adams ?
Alabama has not had a wide receiver group at full strength recently.
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With injuries to Law and Prentice, Alabama's lack of depth has magnified losing Jalen Hale for the season.
Aug 31, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Ryan Williams (2) and Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Cole Adams (7) celebrated a touchdown by Williams at Bryant-Denny Stadium during the game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-USA TODAY Sports
"Unfortunately, we aren't at full strength there, but just like most teams across the country are," DeBoer said. "You're short-handed but you mix and match. You continue to find the versatility in guys and put them into spots, coach them up."
In Alabama's 34-0 win against Missouri , Prentice and Law manned the slot receiver position. Emmanuel Henderson Jr. and Caleb Odom each saw snaps out wide along with Germie Bernard and Ryan Williams , who have received the bulk of the attention in the Alabama pass game.
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"Guys that can play inside and outside both, we're going to utilize to the fullest potential," DeBoer said. "It's always all-hands-on-deck, especially at this time of the year."
What's next for Alabama football at punt returner?
Adams was Alabama's go-to as a punt returner, taking 11 of the team's 16 punt returns for 58 yards.
Moving forward, DeBoer said he will continue to rely on freshman cornerback Jaylen Mbakwe and Williams in the role, rotating between the two, while also molding more players to take reps if necessary.
At punt returner, DeBoer said it's about repeated reps, knowing when to field punts, when to fair catch punts, developing necessary communication and feeling comfortable in those situations.
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"When developing returners, it isn't just your upperclassmen that you know can do it, have confidence in. It's also developing younger guys," DeBoer said. "You have seen, just as much as anyone has, that we have younger guys that we have been putting out there with (Mbakwe) and Ryan. We need to continue to develop more and more, not just for today, not just for the next couple games or for the rest of the season, but for the future years to come."
Alabama punt returners have 117 yards on 16 returns. The Crimson Tide averages 7.31 yards per return, 11th best in the SEC.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: What's next for Alabama football after WR Cole Adams season-ending injury?
