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The Tuscaloosa News
Inside Alabama football locker room after loss to Tennessee, belief remains
- Story byThe Tuscaloosa News
- Inside Alabama football locker room after loss to Tennessee, belief remains
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Kalen DeBoer's message to Alabama football Saturday night after the Crimson Tide's 24-17 loss to Tennessee was simple. Look inward. Do some soul-searching. Get back to work.
"I know there's enough guys that still believe, that still want to go do what we want to do," DeBoer said. "There's a lot of season left for not just us, but everyone. And it's going to go fast if we don't take advantage. But that urgency has got to be there. There's no question."
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Jalen Milroe still believes.
The mission was to be "1-0," the Alabama quarterback said. The mindset was to be "1-0" and to seize the opportunity Alabama had on Saturday at Neyland Stadium . From the visitors locker room, it changed. The mission is to refocus. The mindset is to reflect and to build.
"Right now, it's all about reflection and all about us, refocusing our short-term goals and our long-term goals as a group and just channeling our energy amongst each other so that we can be the best version of ourselves," Milroe said.
Alabama wide receiver Germie Bernard still trusts Milroe as a leader, as one who's been taught by great quarterbacks like Bryce Young.
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"I'm just going to continue to believe in him and trust him because I know he can get it done," Bernard said.
Bernard still trusts DeBoer, someone he's known longer than most on the roster having transferred from Washington. DeBoer, he said, is someone Alabama continues to love.
"We always have one another's back in that building," Bernard said. "You know, it's all about us. So whatever anybody else has to say, it doesn't really matter at the end of the day. It matters what we do as a team and how we're going to come back from this loss."
Oct 19, 2024; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide players leave the field after losing to the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images
Bernard calls Alabama's loss to Tennessee a step of adversity toward being the team it wants to become, a step that's not easy in a game that's not easy. But there's a resiliency, Bernard said, that Alabama has already shown and will continue to show.
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Even in the current mission of refocusing, the current mindset of reflecting and building, Milroe returns to the mindset he and the Crimson Tide had heading in: to be "1-0."
"We acknowledge there is so much more football left," Milroe said. "It's all about us when it comes to our approach and our mindset moving forward."
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: Belief remains in Alabama football locker room after Tennessee loss
