Saban stresses Alabama’s ability to focus after first full-pad practice

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Six practices are in the books, and Alabama will soon return to Bryant Denny Stadium for its first preseason scrimmage this weekend. But Wednesday’s workout was the first in full pads for the Crimson Tide, which led coach Nick Saban to preach a message of sustaining after the team practiced in the scorching summer heat in the Druid City.

“The No. 1 thing we need to focus on is we have to increase the level of attention to detail, focus on every play so that we can play and not have penalties and missed assignments,” Saban said.

“Communication goes with that. I don’t care whether you’re playing the offensive line and have to make line call or you’re playing secondary and make a coverage call so everybody’s on the same page. You can anticipate things and you can play better and you can play faster, but I think sometimes when things get a little bit difficult, we lose our focus a little bit.”

To prove his point, Saban brought up two games that Alabama from last season that struggled to accomplish the same goals that he outlined following Wednesday’s preseason practice.

“One of the interesting things somebody brought to my attention – the two longest games that we had last year, almost four hours long, two games: Tennessee and LSU,” Saban said. “We made mistakes at the end of the game, which were very costly.

“So the ability to sustain this level of concentration and focus, no matter what you call it, is something that we really, really need to do and continue to work on so that we have a chance to be more consistent as a team and don’t make plays that are drive killers or give up explosive plays on defense or help the other team with penalties or whatever it is.”

While Saban clearly had a message for his players after the sixth of 20 preseason practices, he did provide a positive update in regard to the approach of the team after its first full week.

“I like the attitude that the team has,” Saban said. “I like the togetherness. I like the sense of commitment to the principles and values everybody seems to be buying into, but that’s something that we need to work on. And every guy has got to do a good job of working on that.”

Saban recaps Day 1 in full pads for the Crimson Tide

Alabama’s players have now gone through six practices over the last week, but weather has led to many of those workouts ending in the Hank Crisp Indoor Practice Facility. Wednesday’s first full-padded practice was held under partly-cloudy skies, allowing the squad to remain outdoors on an afternoon when the temperature felt like 104 degrees and humidity was 71 percent.

That kind of adversity will help Alabama today, this weekend and once the season kicks off.

“Obviously, we’ve gotten chased inside by the rain a couple of days, so this was one of the first days – second day, I guess – we were able to stay outside for the entire practice,” Saban said. “It’s a great opportunity for us to be able to stay focused in these kinds of conditions, especially toward the end of practice when guys are getting tired, and Saturday’s scrimmage will be no different.

“We want to evaluate whether guys can block, tackle, execute what they’re supposed to do. Not so much try to game plan and experiment with things but just see how guys can play winning football, whatever position. That’s something that I think is really, really important.”

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