WATCH: Trio of Alabama players speak Tuesday of bye week
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — No. 6 Alabama is currently on its bye week after starting the season 7-1 (4-1 SEC). Now, it’s time to focus on getting healthy and gearing up for the remainder of the regular season, which will get back underway with a road trip to Baton Rouge to take on the LSU Tigers on Nov. 5.
On Tuesday, a trio of Alabama standouts spoke to the media. First, we got to once again talk to defensive back Brian Branch. Then, he was followed out by two new players to the media, outside linebacker Chris Braswell and running back Roydell Williams. Below, we’ve included everything those guys said during that media availability.
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DB Brian Branch
On how he would assess Alabama’s secondary so far…
“So far I feel like we’ve done an okay job during these eight games, this last game I feel like was a good turnaround from the Tennessee game to see what our character is like and I feel like we handled this game very good and it’s just one game at a time. As long as we can keep on moving forward, the rest of these four games is going to be good.”
On what he has improved upon when he blitzes…
“I’m working on disguising them because a lot of times the quarterbacks will kind of point me out and it’d be like, they already know I’m coming, so they’ll kind of shift the line out to kind of shift the mind can block me. I love blitzing and I need to work on a little more on my disguises when I blitz so as the quarterback won’t know.”
On Alabama CB Eli Ricks…
“Eli played phenomenal. I feel like every pass thrown his way, he shut it down. It’s something that I saw during the fall camp that I felt like he was capable of doing and for him just to come out there, in the first game he really played, to do that is great. I feel like big things are going to come Eli’s way.”
On if Dallas Turner or Chris Braswell give him any pointers on pass rushing…
“Bras, Will and Dallas will give me pointers when I come off the edge. They tried to teach me how to work my hands and I kind of did it in this last game. I’ll never turn down helping points from them.”
On how important it was to have a bounceback game against Mississippi State…
“For us to come out there and play like we did, I feel like that means that we fight. It shows that we’re not gonna let one game determine how good this defense is. Everybody knows we have to improve on little things, the penalties. If everybody just does their job one game at a time, I think we will be the defense that I know we can be.”
On how last year’s loss to Texas A&M helped them this season…
“In a way, it kind of feels like last year’s game per se, coming off a loss from Texas A&M. And it just shows. It makes us work harder per se, and it sucks that we played Mississippi State the next weekend after I guess we lose, but it just makes us grind a little harder and really (focus) on to the little things.”
On how Alabama’s defense needs to respond on the road defensively…
“Everybody playing together. I feel like when we play on the road it’s our toughest challenge. It’s just everybody doing their job well during the road games and don’t let the other fanbase knock us off our game. Just play like how I know we can play.”
On Alabama OLB Chris Braswell…
“Chris a big factor to this defense. That cheetah package with him Dallas and Will get in there, I already know they’re gonna make some plays. Just having him step up this year is tremendous to us and I feel like we’re gonna need his play in these next few games.”
On playing a night game in Baton Rouge at full capacity…
“Oh, I’m very excited. Like you said, my freshman year there weren’t too many people in the stands. This year is going to be a packed crowd so I’m just ready to feel what the environment is like in Baton Rouge.”
OLB Chris Braswell
On Brian Branch’s pass-rushing chops…
“BB, he’s done a very great job working on his blitzes and coming off the edge. I kinda was telling him, sometimes he was spinning a lot. I kinda was telling him not to spin a lot because you know when you spring you kinda can’t see what’s coming on the other side. So I was just trying to tell him to use his speed, his athleticism and just bend the edge cause a lot of tackles can’t block someone with speed. So I was just telling him, just bend the edge and just use your hands more.”
On his biggest improvements…
“I’ve improved in a lot of areas of my game. One of the big things I needed to improve on was playing the run and being able to play the 5 technique better. Overall, dropping in coverage, pass rushing, just everything. I had to work on a little bit of everything to get to where I am now. I’m still improving and still need to work on a lot of things
On last week being a challenge to the team’s pride…
“It definitely was a challenge. We had to get back to the little things, clean up the penalties, clean up the mental errors, the missed tackles and just overall improve as a whole defense. I think we kinda did a pretty good job of that.”
On being included in the Cheetah package with Will Anderson and Dallas Turner…
“It’s great playing with those guys, being able to be on the field at the same time at times. We always talk about playing on the field with each other all the time. It’s a great thing to be out there with those guys, and we just got to continue to play better and play better defense.”
On how Alabama’s younger guys had to step up on the defensive line…
“A lot of people have stepped up. It definitely was a challenge to put people at different positions and whatnot. Overall, we just had to get better and clean up things on the defense. That was kind of like the scheme we wanted to do.”
On Alabama OLB coach Coleman Hutzler and his energy…
“Coach Hutzler, he’s a great coach. He’s brung a lot of different type of pass-rushing elements, and he has a lot of energy. He’s always high on energy and bringing energy to practice, to the game and everything like that. He’s done a very great job with us, and I appreciate him.”
On what he’s learned or improved on from Hutzler…
“I try to take in from everyone, and he’s taught us to finish at the top of the rush, use different moves, be more active with your hands. If you to a level with the quarterback, throw by or hand swipe or turn your speed into power or simple just, like I said, bending the edge and just mixing up moves and stances and whatnot to keep your pass rushing fresh.”
RB Roydell Williams
On the difficulty of blocking Alabama’s Cheetah package…
“They’re very fast, very elusive. Of course, they’re big guys, but you have to sit in the pocket, gotta protect 9 back there in the backfield and stand your ground.”
On what Alabama is emphasizing to be more efficient in the run game…
“This week, just focusing on ourselves. That game’s gone, and we’re just focused on this bye week, focused on pass protection, how we’re gonna be efficient in the run game coming up on LSU week and just being able to execute as an offense.”
On catching the football out of the backfield…
“Of course. Catching out of the backfield gives me another option to spread the offense and give Bryce another option to check down to me and Jase and Jahmyr, and we are very successful with it. That helps us spread the offense.”
On what it’ll be like playing in a full Tiger Stadium…
“I really don’t stay on social media as much, but since that COVID year, I look forward to getting back there and playing in that stadium. I heard it’s a great environment to play in, very tough, I heard. But I try not to be on social media that much and looking at all the rah-rah stuff.”
On what Jahmyr Gibbs has added to Alabama’s offense…
“He’s a very special running back, very fast. Of course, he can catch out of the backfield. Very elusive. He’s a special guy. You can go in-depth with him. He’s a great guy to be around, and he’s just great overall.”
On why he doesn’t do social media…
“I mean, I get on every now and then, but when it comes to game week, I try to block it out. It’s not a big deal to me. I try to just put it to the side and let it not be the focus that week. I just try to focus on the game plan and what we have to do as an offense and a team to come out with a win.”
On where he has improved the most…
“Just coming off the injury, downstairs, they’ve done a great job, the training staff. Getting my speed back up, being able to cut, being comfortable cutting on this leg. It’s just been very good lately out there, and I’ve just been getting comfortable with the offense and stuff. It’s just been good.”
On Alabama OT JC Latham…
“Of course, he’s a young guy, a sophomore. Very fast as a big guy. Very physical, strong, holds up the right side of the line. And he’s just very tough as an O-lineman.”
On what last year’s injury taught him about patience…
“The mental part. Of course, one day it’s sore. One day, it feels good. One day it’s here, one day it’s there. But I just learn to just keep my composure and just go on about how it feels and just work on it.”
On when he started to feel like his old self again…
“Absolutely. I’ve been feeling like my old self again. Like I said, those guys downstairs, they’ve done a great job. It’s very patient, you have to be very patient with those types of injuries. I just feel great again. I’m back.”
When, though…
“I’d say the beginning of the season, I felt great.”
On looking at the analytics while overcoming his injury…
“Yeah, absolutely. In the weight room, I saw weekly as my numbers increased, I knew that I was getting back to myself. But in the training room, we worked on the little small stuff as in cutting, getting back to normal and the little small things. And I just feel good again.”
