Nick Saban provides injury update on Jermaine Burton, Deontae Lawson and Jaylen Key
Alabama head coach Nick Saban has updated the statuses of three key players ahead of Week 12.
Wide receiver Jermaine Burton is looking good, but defenders Jaylen Key and Deontae Lawson will need to be further evaluated before being deemed ready to compete this weekend.
“Jermaine Burton is fine, he has practiced,” Saban said on Wednesday. “Jaylen and Deontae are both moving around, running, rehabbing and getting close to being ready to practice and play. But I’d say it’s still pretty questionable as to whether they can make it for the game.
“If they can’t practice tomorrow, then most of the time we don’t — if guys can’t practice on Thursday, we don’t think they’re healthy enough to play the game, but we’ll see what comes with that tomorrow.”
For Burton, he missed Saturday’s victory over Kentucky due to an illness, but it wasn’t revealed until the morning of game day that he would miss the SEC clash. Afterward, Saban elaborated on the wide receiver’s status, saying that he doesn’t see this impacting his long-term health. Now, it seems he’s well on his way to playing this weekend.
Both Key and Lawson have been critical pieces of the Alabama defense this year. Key entered Saturday’s game ranked third on the Crimson Tide with 45 tackles and adding an interception on the season. Before his departure against LSU, he had a tackle and a pass breakup.
Lawson was seen in a walking boot during Week 10’s 42-28 victory over LSU, while Key reportedly suffered a quad injury during the same game. Both missed last week’s game against Kentucky after head coach Nick Saban updated their status after they were already labeled as “very questionable” earlier in the week. Now, it seems their statuses are improving heading into Saturday’s game against Chattanooga.
Regardless, rushing any of these three back wouldn’t be in the Crimson Tide’s best interests. Alabama is going to defeat Chattanooga by a lot with or without these three stars — but it’s next week’s Iron Bowl on the road that is the perfect trap game at the worst time for Alabama.
Of course, the Crimson Tide are hitting their stride offensively and look nothing like the team that lost to Texas at home at the beginning of the season. This is an Alabama team that has its eyes set on a national championship — but they’re going to need both offensive and defensive units at full strength to accomplish that feat.