Alabama football held its fifth practice session of the spring on Thursday, and during the open periods where media was allowed to observe, the Crimson Tide was dealing with several injuries. The most serious was the absence of defensive lineman Jehiem Oatis, who was spotted inside the team’s facility but was not on the practice field.
After practice ended, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer was non-committal about when Oatis might be back on the field.
“I do know but I think it’s still kind of relative,” DeBoer said. “Kind of up in the air still. So I mean, I’m certainly aware of it.”
The Crimson Tide had two players appear in black jerseys, which signify no-contact in practice. Wide receiver Germie Bernard, who transferred to UA from Washington this offseason, had one on and spent most of the observable periods riding an exercise bike.
Linebacker Sterling Dixon also donned the black jersey. He seemed to be partially participating in practice.
DeBoer sounded optimistic about those two moving forward.
“Just minor, minor stuff,” DeBoer said. “They’ll be back. I don’t know if they’ll be back on Saturday, but they should be back next week. Nothing major.”
Tight end CJ Dippre was back in regular uniform. Before Alabama paused practice for spring break, he was wearing a black jersey during the Tide’s first open media session.
DeBoer shared positive news about his health status.
“We’re getting CJ back here a little bit,” DeBoer said. “He’s not full-go necessarily but him added to the mix. So it’s been a thin group but it’s, with the addition now here, coming along, and it’s a really, really important part of our team.”
Alabama returns to the practice field on Saturday. Spring ball will end April 13, with UA’s annual A-Day game at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
