AJ McCarron Explains Why He's Skipping The Senior Bowl

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"It's always been a dream of mine to play in the Senior Bowl in my hometown," McCarron told the Alabama Media Group. "But my body was banged up during the year. I wanted to push through it and finish out the year for my teammates.

"When it came time to decide, I asked the advice of our team doctors, who are some of the best in the country. They said I should stay out of the game and get my body back to 100 percent healthy."

"When my toe got stepped on, the nail on my big toe cracked and the doctor had to cut off most of it," he said. "It never healed all season and kept getting infected. We thought the nail would grow back together, but a new nail grew under it. So after the Sugar Bowl I had a procedure to cut the nail out again. I was in a boot for a week after that."

"I jammed my shoulder when I was diving for the pylon against Tennessee," he said. "Structurally, there was never anything wrong, but since then I've been fighting a sore shoulder that just got more tired each week."

"My shoulder feels better than it ever has now," said McCarron, who is in Jackson, Miss., training at David Morris' QB Country at D1. "I've been working on my throwing mechanics and my arm is going to be stronger than it's ever been."

"Coach Saban and I sat down and talked about it right before the bowl game," McCarron said. "He told me you have to make a business decision. It's only the right decision."

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