Nick Saban: Alabama had “too many self-inflicted wounds”
After a wild 43-37 loss to Ole Miss on Saturday night, Alabama coach Nick Saban spoke only briefly with the media and did not address several pressing topics.
He made up for that on Monday afternoon, and we’ve collected all of the relevant information. We already know that senior quarterback Jake Coker will likely be starting against Louisiana-Monroe this Saturday, but there were plenty of other points of interest from Saban’s presser.
He first offered some thoughts on the Ole Miss game:
Nick Saban: Too many self-inflicted wounds to overcome.
— Aaron Suttles (@AaronSuttles) September 21, 2015
Saban: Players had "tremendous energy," but need to learn to channel it "in the right places." Said it starts with him and other coaches.
— Alex Martin Smith (@asmiff) September 21, 2015
Saban on comparisons vs. Ole Miss losses: "The game we lost last year was almost completely different from the game we lost this year."
— Alex Byington (@abyingtonTD) September 21, 2015
Saban confirmed that wide receiver Robert Foster (torn rotator cuff) will be out for the season, and also said that junior long snapper Cole Mazza is dealing with an injury.
Injury update: Robert Foster has a shoulder injury that will require surgery. Cole Mazza out for medical reasons.
— Christopher Walsh (@WritingWalsh) September 21, 2015
Saban on WR Robert Foster: "Unless he has a miraculous recovery, he's going to be out for a while. A good while."
— TideSports.com (@TideSports) September 21, 2015
Asked who will take Robert Foster's role in offense, Saban immediately mentions Calvin Ridley — shouts out "young players"
— Alex Martin Smith (@asmiff) September 21, 2015
Saban on Cam Sims: "Cam Sims is probably more and more ready to come back. I think we're probably ready to give him some more turns as well"
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) September 21, 2015
Asked about the play of the year, Saban did not throw his hands up. Instead, he blamed the secondary for not sticking to the fundamentals:
Saban on crazy tipped-ball TD vs. Ole Miss: "Those are the kind of things that sometimes happen in games … Still comes down to execution."
— Alex Martin Smith (@asmiff) September 21, 2015
Saban said one of the DBs failed to cover their man on that play, which allowed for the TD.
— Alex Byington (@abyingtonTD) September 21, 2015
Lastly, he discussed a couple of perceived areas of weakness:
Saban: I'm not down on our players in the secondary. Other than the big plays, Ole Miss didn't really have sustained drives in the game.
— Aaron Suttles (@AaronSuttles) September 21, 2015
Nick Saban: "I think the offensive line played OK in the game." Says they struggled with Robert Nkemdiche.
— Ben Jones (@BW_Jones) September 21, 2015
