Listen to What Nick Saban Said After the 2018 A-Day Game
Spring football in Tuscaloosa came to an end on Saturday with the Crimson team's 24-12 win over the White team in the 2018 A-Day game.
Over the past few weeks, Alabama football held 15 official practices and scrimmages as the team works began working towards the 2018 season. While the coaching staff had to work around a number of injuries this spring, Nick Saban said he was still pretty pleased with the work he got out of his players.
“It was difficult this spring with some of the players we had out that are really good leaders and guys that really impact other people, but that created an opportunity for other players to have to step up and do that, and I was pleased with the progress we made in those areas," Saban said after the A-Day game. "All in all, we made a lot of progress this spring and I’m not completely satisfied where we are, but I’m certainly excited about the opportunities that we have to try and improve over the summer and the individuals over the next five weeks. We’re looking to have a strong team coming into fall camp, with individuals that are looking to play winning football.”
Most of the conversation heading into spring camp centered on the quarterback position, where Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa were expected to begin competition for the starting job. That all changed when Tagovailoa broke a bone in his throwing hand during the first practice. That left Hurts and redshirt freshman Mac Jones facing off against each other on Saturday afternoon.
“I think the second offense was better than the second defense and when I say better, they were better all the way around. They were better in pass protection and production in performance, which is why they won the game. I was not disappointed in the way Jalen (Hurts) played. We have some guys that can rush, and even though we were rushing four guys most of the time, there was way too much pressure in the pocket for the quarterback to be able to operate like we would like. Jalen made some good plays and throws, and I’m sure if you were to talk to him he would say, ‘I wish there were things I did better and can improve on.’ We’ve been very pleased with the progress that Mac Jones has made, so that gives us more depth at that position.”
You can hear everything Saban had to say about the A-Day performance by watching the video at the top of the page.