When Alabama football players head to the video room these days, they see a lot of success.
Nick Saban said Saturday afternoon that his players have been watching their share of New England Patriots footage to get a better idea of how to run new plays. Those plays are being implemented by new offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, who was tight ends coach of the Patriots last season when the franchise won its fifth Super Bowl since 2000.
"If we have a play we've run in the past, we can use our film to visually give our players an example of that play," Saban said in a news conference. "In some cases, some of the things we're doing we've never done before, so if they did it with the Patriots and we need to look at their film so they can get a visual of how to run a route or something, then that is part of our teaching progression. We still have some of our teaching film from the Miami Dolphins 11 years later.
"The purpose of it is to give players a visual picture, whether it comes from our film, their film or anybody else's film."
Alabama ran plenty of plays, an estimated 135 of them, during Saturday afternoon's first scrimmage of the preseason at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The scrimmage lasted more than two hours and took place amid temperatures in the low 90s.
The first preseason scrimmage with Daboll as coordinator was closed to the media, and no statistics were provided.
"I don't think we had the rhythm you would like to see on offense, and I think he would say the same thing," Saban said. "I don't think it's a reflection on him. It's just the way it went today.
"There were a lot of good things to build on."
Sophomore tailback Josh Jacobs missed the scrimmage with a hamstring pull and could be out for several days, according to Saban, while freshman tailback Najee Harris has a "slight pull" but probably will be back practicing Monday. Saban did not know of any other players who would not be able to practice Monday.
Saban said JK Scott looked "fantastic" punting the ball, but he remains concerned about the kicking situation involving fifth-year senior Andy Pappanastos and freshman Joseph Bulovas. The Crimson Tide missed two field-goal tries in the scrimmage and had two others blocked, according to Saban.
"We really need to work hard on that part of it," he said. "We have to develop confidence in that area, and it's not just the kicker. It's the protection. It's the holder. It's the whole operation."
Saban was asked about touted freshman offensive linemen Alex Leatherwood (6-6, 322) and Jedrick Wills (6-5, 314), and he said they were two newcomers the staff will look to "invest in" for the upcoming season if they continue to perform well.
"We can have a really, really good team, and I'm not disappointed where our team is right now," Saban said. "Are we where we need to be? Absolutely not. We just have to focus on what we need to do to improve.
"If every team in the country were ready to play their first game right now, there wouldn't be a need to practice anymore."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.