The Alabama Crimson Tide held their final practice Thursday before Saturday's A-Day game that will conclude spring drills.
"We're excited about the game Saturday, and I know the players are excited," coach Nick Saban said in a news conference. "Spring practice is a great opportunity for a lot of guys to make a significant amount of improvement, and we certainly had the opportunity to do that this year. We had a few guys out and had a few guys get hurt, which created a few opportunities to give other people a lot of reps, but this is an opportunity for guys to get out and play in game-like situations.
"It's our philosophy to try to make this as much of a game-like situation as possible."
Saturday afternoon's game will start at 3 p.m. EDT, and it will be televised by the SEC Network.
A-Day will consist of 15-minute quarters, but the clock will be stopped only after scoring plays, penalties and changes of possession. Regular clock rules will be used in the final four minutes of each half.
Alabama released the A-Day rosters Thursday, with the White team consisting of the starting offense and the Crimson team containing the starting defense. Quarterbacking the White will be fifth-year senior Jacob Coker and redshirt junior Alec Morris, who were second and third on the depth chart at the end of last season behind Blake Sims.
Quarterbacking the Crimson will be David Cornwell, Cooper Bateman and early enrollee Blake Barnett.
"We don't really have a first-team quarterback," Saban reiterated.
Sitting out A-Day due to injuries will be tailback Bo Scarbrough, receiver Cam Sims, offensive lineman Brandon Kennedy, defensive linemen Jonathan Allen and A'Shawn Robinson, linebackers Denzel Devall and Ryan Anderson and cornerback Cyrus Jones. Safety Hootie Jones is questionable after injuring his ankle last Saturday.
Saban said Robinson, who has a sprained knee and ankle, would be able to play if this was an actual game. Kennedy is among Alabama's eight early enrollees.
"We have more guys out for this game than we've had in the past, which again creates an opportunity for some other players to play," Saban said. "You're always a little thin in the spring without having the entire freshman class with you."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.