Down But Never Out: Justin Eboigbe back on the field for Alabama after neck injury

After missing nine games with a neck injury last season, Justin Eboigbe was cleared to return to the field this spring. And five months later, Alabama’s veteran defensive lineman said at the start of fall camp that he is feeling 100 percent and “perfectly healthy” for the 2023 season.

“I’m feeling great,” Eboigbe said. “Each and every day is just a great day for me. Just looking forward to practice.”

Eboigbe had jumped out to a strong start to the season before suffering the injury prior to the Crimson Tide’s Week 5 game at Arkansas last year. He did not return to action until the spring, which was when he detailed his challenging journey back from the setback to the field.

“It’s been more mental than physical because you really don’t know what to expect when everything went down,” Eboigbe said. “I’m just grateful for the coaching staff, and the training staff especially, for catching it early, and honestly, doing the right things to catch it early and then getting me with the right people to make sure that I was as healthy as I am today.

“Going down that Tuesday of Arkansas week after that Vandy game, I felt like I was coming off some of my best football, and the fact that something that was out of my hands happened. But by the grace of God and then by the great people of this university getting me in touch with the right people has made it tremendously easy for the comeback. I’m feeling better now than I did before.”

The senior defensive lineman underwent a procedure that head coach Nick Saban said would “enhance his opportunity to be able to play in the future” when he was ruled out in October. On Jan. 10, Eboigbe tweeted “Back” and ultimately chose to return after redshirting in 2022.

But did Eboigbe ever have thoughts that his 2022 season might be his last?

“I didn’t have any doubt because I knew what was meant for me was meant for me and everything was going to work out the way God planned it,” Eboigbe said. “Of course, you have a little self-doubt, but I knew that everything was gonna work out because the way I was feeling and the feedback from the doctor – how happy and how proud he was as far as like the recovery aspect of where I was at every checkpoint that we had – I knew that everything was working out to where that self-doubt was clearing up.”

On the day of his injury, Eboigbe received words of advice from Jeff Allen, Alabama’s associate athletic director of sports medicine, that remained with him throughout his rehab process.

“That it’s season-ending, it’s not career-ending,” Eboigbe said. “The worst thing that can happen is you get in your own head and you’re thinking, ‘What if this is it for me?’ But I stood behind the words that he told me. ‘OK, my season may be over, but my career is not over.’

“So every day that I woke up, I knew that. There were tough days, but I knew that me being able to play the game of football is not gonna be taken away from me forever, just this small setback. I knew that every time that I worked or every time that it was time to do something, I knew I was gonna come back because it wasn’t career-ending.”

A first-team contributor each of the last four seasons, Eboigbe is now the veteran on Alabama’s defensive line. With DJ Dale and Byron Young leaving for the NFL, his return to school – and full health – came at an ideal time for a defense looking to re-establish its identity. For the redshirt senior, that starts up front with his position group stacking positive days at practice.

“Just every day realizing that you have to bring the energy, and it starts with us as far as like we’re the first line of defense,” Eboigbe said. “Generally, how well a team does is how well they do in the trenches. The biggest thing for us is being physical, everybody being on the same page, knowing what to do, flying around and being collective as a unit as far as being one of the most talked about D-lines in the country. That’s one of the biggest things.

“And how it starts is coming in with attitude each and every day, ready to work. That’s one of the things I’ve been trying to instill in each and every one because the 14 guys in that room, that’s all we got. That’s our mentality, and that’s how we’re looking forward to things.”

Eboigbe and Tim Smith are the lone seniors in Alabama’s defensive line room, while Jah-Marien Latham is entering his fourth year, as well, albeit as a redshirt junior. Outside of that trio, the rest of the Tide’s scholarship defensive linemen are either sophomores or freshmen, and other than Jaheim Oatis, a returning starter at nose tackle, the rest of the group is inexperienced.

A leader at his position, Eboigbe has tried to help bring some of the younger linemen along with Alabama needing players to step up and contribute this fall following some key departures.

“The biggest thing is just pouring experience and leadership and then, on top of that, just bringing the ones that’s behind me along with me,” Eboigbe said. “Whether it be us learning, them learning plays, or me sitting down with them or them sitting down with a coach, whether it be staying after practice, hitting the bags or actually walking through the plays.

“I feel like once you learn the plays, you have a chance to play faster. That’s the biggest thing.”

*** Editor’s note: Story will appear in programs sold at the Alabama-MTSU game.

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