Jumbo Package: JC Latham honored, Saban speaks on fixing sack problems

Happy Tuesday, everyone. The offensive line may have allowed some sacks this weekend, but JC Latham was recognized for his play by the SEC.

Congrats, JC.

Saban spoke to reporters per usual on Monday, and the offensive line was understandably the topic du jour.

“Well, he’s really a good right tackle,” Saban said. “ ... He’s big, strong, physical. He’s the prototype right tackle that everybody would look for in terms of having a power guy who is effective in being able to pass block well enough. I guess you always hope that if we move the right tackle to left tackle, that would make everything better. But I guess the question you also have to ask yourself is would that make us any better at right tackle? Or do you just try to attack the solution of trying to get the left tackle to play to the standard that you need him to play, without making multiple changes to the offensive line?

“When we’re sliding out, to block three on three, and the guy doesn’t slide out to block the third guy and he runs in to sack the quarterback, that’s a mental error,” Saban said. “That’s not a physical problem. It’s a combination of all those things that need to get cleaned up with better communication, better execution and maybe the more knowledge and experience we’ll get, the more we’ll be able to be more effective and consistent in those areas.”

“I don’t see Joe being a whole lot different than what we’ve played against in the past, when Hooker was there,” Saban said. “Guy can throw the ball, he’s accurate, he’s got a strong arm, they can make plays down the field, and they take a lot of vertical shots, so he’s certainly capable of making those plays. But he’s also athletic enough to extend plays in the pocket and run if necessary.”

Haynes finished with just two carries for 11 yards, but Alabama seemed to have a more concerted effort to get its top four running backs playing time against the Razorbacks. In his limited playing time, Haynes has shown why he received so much hype in the offseason, and Saban was pleased with his performance Saturday.

“He played great,” Saban said Monday. “He’s been playing really well all year... Justice played really good when he was in there. We’re pleased with all those guys, and maybe there will be some opportunity for him to make a bigger contribution in the future.”

In general, Saban was fairly positive about the team’s chances to improve in some of those critical areas. Guess we’ll see. You can check out all of his comments below.

Saban also spoke to ESPN and had some glowing remards about Tennessee DL coach Rodney Garner, who is something of a legend on the recruiting trail.

“He is just a good coach, man,” said Saban when asked about Garner. “He’s done a good job. He gets good players and does a good job of developing them. They play hard. They play good technique. They’re very aggressive upfront. So no surprise, really, having played against him for many, many years. That’s the way his guys always play.”

Jalen Milroe seems confident.

But Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe isn’t worried about his protection or Tennessee’s vaunted pass rush ahead of The Third Saturday in October.

“We’re going to have a lot of fun,” Milroe said when asked about Tennessee’s pass rush. “We don’t care about none of that. It’s just another opportunity for us to have fun. We get to play in front of our fans this weekend. We’re going to be excited for that. A lot of energy is going to be in the air with playing a great opponent. … We’re looking forward to the challenge.”

Kennington Smith III breaks down what Alabama needs to do to play to “the standard.”

Is complacency to blame for the second half? Wins over Ole Miss and Texas A&M came after halftime deficits, or was Alabama too confident? It’s worth noting that Arkansas, which has lost four of its past five games by one possession, was up to the challenge and was not going away in the second half.

“I think we were confident, but at the same time, we know we got to play 60 minutes in the game,” linebacker Deontae Lawson said. “And you know it wasn’t that big of a lead. We just got to execute. We just made some costly mistakes that we can’t make later down the road.”

Milroe and Terrion Arnold have released some LANK merch.

“Obviously Bryce [Young] was the quarterback then,” Arnold recently told On3’s Andy Staples. “And Bryce, very, very humble. Nonchalant and just as far, never too high, never too low. J-Mil, the total opposite. J-Mil, in the locker room, is the center of attention in there. In player meetings, he’s going to get up, he gone talk, say what’s on his mind.

“So just as far that being, we came up with ‘LANK.’ He was like, ‘Man we gotta really go out here and let these naysayers know because they doubting us.’”

Last, this doesn’t seem like a young man who is terribly happy.

To be fair, that was right after a demoralizing loss, but that still isn’t the look you want to see from the team leader. Caleb’s prior threats to stay in school if the wrong NFL team is picking first looked pretty silly after that egg he laid on Saturday.

That’s about it for now. Have a great day.

Roll Tide.