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The Tuscaloosa News
Who's the 'next-man-up' for Alabama football after Keon Sabb injury?
- Story byThe Tuscaloosa News
- Who's the 'next-man-up' for Alabama football after Keon Sabb injury?
Alabama football had to use its defensive back depth in a major way Saturday against Tennessee.
The Crimson Tide played much of its 24-17 loss to Tennessee without defensive backs such as Keon Sabb , Zabien Brown , DeVonta Smith and Red Morgan . DeBoer said Monday Sabb has a "lower extremity injury" and that he expects Sabb to "be down for a while." DeBoer said he expects Brown, Smith and Morgan to be back for Alabama 's meeting with Missouri on Saturday.
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Nevertheless, Alabama saw the level of depth it had at defensive back Saturday against the Volunteers, leading to extended playing time for players such as safety Bray Hubbard , King Mack and DaShawn Jones.
As Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack prepares to game plan for Missouri , he said it's about the "next-man-up" mentality for his defensive backs unit.
"Those guys have to be ready at a moment's notice," Wommack said. "You talk about those things, you have a sense of urgency in practice that the guys are rolling with the twos have to know that at any given moment, right, they can step in and have a major impact on a game. Certainly a game like this where you had a number of DBs that went down, you can point to this to say 'Hey, this is why it's so critical thay you have the same level of urgency (of) the guy that is going out with the starting defense because at any given moment, you're going to come in and have a tremendous impact on the game one way or another whether you are prepared for it or not."
For Wommack, Hubbard is a perfect example, someone who did "some great things" as the next-man-up for Sabb. Wommack said Hubbard is a player whose "workmanlike" mentality defines who his, practicing with the expectation that he would go in and produce at a high level.
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Having played 38 snaps total in four games prior to Saturday according to Pro Football Focus, Hubbard played 51 snaps for Sabb against the Volunteers, finishing with nine tackles Saturday.
It's why DeBoer is excited to see what Hubbard can do in relief of Sabb next to safety Malachi Moore .
"Bray's been working hard for this opportunity," DeBoer said. "Not just last week, but every week, he's worked to be ready. And we had no doubt that he would be come Saturday when he was called upon. And he'll go out there again this week. And I know our team really believes in him. He does a lot of things on special teams, and you can see it every day in practice.
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"I know the high level of want-to that he has. And I'm excited for is opportunity."
Alabama will take on Missouri at 2:30 p.m. CT on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium on ABC.
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: Who's the 'next-man-up' for Alabama football after Keon Sabb injury?
