Alabama's Bo Scarbrough not looking back to January injury

Alabama junior tailback Bo Scarbrough goes through a drill during Tuesday's indoor practice in Tuscaloosa.
Alabama junior tailback Bo Scarbrough goes through a drill during Tuesday's indoor practice in Tuscaloosa.

Alabama junior tailback Bo Scarbrough is bouncing off questions about his broken leg like he bounced off defenders before suffering the setback in the third quarter of January's 35-31 loss to Clemson in the national championship game.

The 6-foot-2, 235-pounder from Northport, Ala., didn't want to talk about his injury last Saturday during Fan Day festivities at Bryant-Denny Stadium. He wasn't up for discussing it during a news conference Monday, either.

"That's something that I can't go back and speak on," Scarbrough said. "That book is closed. I'm only focused on what's going on right now and not the past."

Alabama held its fifth of 25 preseason practices Monday afternoon and its first in full pads, working out for two hours inside the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility.

Scarbrough arrived for the championship showdown in Tampa after shredding Washington for 180 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries during the Peach Bowl national semifinal on New Year's Eve. His rushing total against the Huskies set an Alabama bowl record, and he actually was on his way to challenging that against Clemson.

Yet after amassing 93 first-half yards and a pair of scores on 16 carries against the Tigers, he sustained the fracture early in the third quarter.

Scarbrough backed up classmate Damien Harris for much of last season and finished with 812 yards and an average of 6.5 yards per carry. In his final three games - though two and a half would be more accurate - Scarbrough racked up 364 yards and averaged 7.9 a rush.

"I feel pretty good," Scarbrough said when the conversation turned to this season. "My body feels good. My leg feels good, so I'm feeling pretty great now."

Harris and Scarbrough headline a stocked position group that includes sophomore Josh Jacobs and freshmen Najee Harris and Brian Robinson. Scarbrough was asked about the freshman Harris and compared him to Jacobs, saying, "They're very shifty, and they can stick a foot in the ground and get up the field really quick. That's something I'm taking from their game."

Scarbrough refuses to call it "competition" when asked about the loaded position, claiming that everyone is working together as one.

"It's not all about being the guy," he said. "We help each other be that guy, and whoever's in the game, we want them to be that guy and do their job and do their job well. We feed off each other, and we're very happy when we see each other doing a great job."

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

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