Nick Saban bristles at Alabama quarterback query

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Very few details have emerged this month regarding Alabama's quarterback competition involving fifth-year senior Blake Sims and Florida State transfer Jake Coker.

Nothing changed Thursday.

Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban was asked in his post-practice news conference if he was looking for anything different in Saturday's second scrimmage compared to the one last week. Saban responded with "Nothing," but he was only getting started.

"What do you want me to say?" he said. "They're both going to take an equal amount of snaps like they did last week, and if you keep asking me questions about it, we probably won't give you their stats again."

Alabama provided a limited amount of rushing and receiving statistics last weekend at Bryant-Denny Stadium but did not share how Sims and Coker fared. Saban said the inclement weather that forced a 40-minute halt in the scrimmage also resulted in several dropped passes and that an accurate assessment of the two quarterbacks therefore could not be made.

Saban did say the second scrimmage would not follow last week's script.

"We would like to see this be more game-like in terms of substitutions," he said. "We want to get an equal amount of plays to where both sides get an opportunity to be evaluated. It's important from a staff standpoint and a game-administrative standpoint that we play part of this scrimmage like a game."

The Crimson Tide worked out for two hours Thursday and will practice again today before Saturday's scrimmage.

On the injury front, Saban said that safety Geno Smith remains limited and cornerback Eddie Jackson took Thursday off to avoid overuse as they deal with knee issues. He added that offensive lineman Leon Brown (foot) should be back to full speed next week.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

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