BAMA football stuff - Practice, Day 1

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–Running back Eddie Lacy looked good and ran well. As you might recall, he had off-season surgery on his toe, which bothered him almost all of last season. Even with the injury, he finished with 674 rushing yards with seven touchdowns. He added 11 catches for 131 yards.

–Quarterback AJ McCarron threw well. It’s hard to judge based on 20 minutes of pitch-and-catch drills, but he did look as confident and strong-armed as you would want a returning starting QB to look. He threw to about a half-dozen different receivers. He was one of only two quarterbacks to practice this morning, as Phillip Ely was the other.

–Cyrus Kouandjio, who looks every bit of the 6-foot-6 and 311 pounds he is listed as being, looked good. He played in the first eight games last season as a freshman before going down with a knee injury, which required surgery. The Crimson Tide isn’t in full pads, but he seemed to be moving well. He is the projected starting left offensive tackle.

–Almost no newcomers were at this morning’s practice. They are slated to practice this evening at 7:30 p.m. Cornerback Deion Belue, a junior college transfer, was part of the morning workout. The Deshler High graduate signed with Alabama in 2010 but spent the past two years at Northeast Mississippi Community College. He is expected to help the secondary immediately.

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Also, Saban said Arie Cujo will be ready for game one as well.

LINK

Some returning players weren't there, but we shouldn't jump to conclusions. Newcomers alone won't give the coaches many players to coach tonight, so we might see some familiar faces tonight. For instance, we didn't see Blake Sims on the field this morning. He missed most of the spring with a hip injury that he suffered while playing pickup basketball. He would have been a running back in the spring. Now that backup quarterback Phillip Sims has transferred to Virginia, it remains to be seen which position Blake Sims will play. He was a quarterback in high school. Stay tuned.
Senior nose guard Jesse Williams created a sensation recently when tweets reported that he had lifted 600 pounds on the bench press. He looks quite muscular, but he already was a hulk.
Returning starter AJ McCarron and new backup Phillip Ely were the only quarterbacks out there. Freshman Alec Morris will get plenty of attention tonight.
Tana Patrick worked with the outside linebackers. He spent much of the spring as an inside linebacker.

Outside linebacker Jonathan Atchison had biceps surgery last fall and still is wearing protection on that upper arm.

Seven defensive linemen took turns in drills: Williams, Damion Square, Quinton Dial, Ed Stinson, Brandon Ivory, Jeoffrey Pagan and William Ming.

Alabama tore up three of its four practice fields after spring practice. Now there are three fields with natural grass and none with artificial turf. The only artificial surface is in the indoor facility. The Tide was practicing on its two new fields this morning. The turf is brand new, but it looks and feels as if has been there for a long time.