It wasn't that he was irked. It wasn't that he was giddy. It certainly wasn't that he was bored.
Alabama football coach Nick Saban went through a range of expressions during Wednesday night's news conference in Tuscaloosa, which was his lone media session between last Saturday's inaugural scrimmage and this Saturday's second one.
Saban began with his usual stressing of "consistency in performance" and then somehow transitioned to how useless preseason predictions are. It was undoubtedly sauna-like during Alabama's two-hour workout in full pads, and it became evident from Saban that his players struggled at times to get through it.
"We're going to play games in weather like today," Saban said. "I think we'll probably play three or four. How many people were at Ole Miss last year? It was a hundred degrees and we played a hundred plays.
"You better be a full-grown man if you're going to be able to do that - to be able to sustain, play and finish."
Saban said there were no new injuries of note to discuss and added that Saturday's second scrimmage would have more game-like situations with several assistant coaches working in the booth. He then started allowing questions, and a reporter a couple of minutes later caught him off guard by asking about freshman receiver DeVonta Smith and how good he has looked on some of the videos that have been released.
"Whose videos?" Saban asked while turning to a representative of Alabama's media relations department.
When told that Alabama's Twitter account had produced videos of players during the portion of practice open to the media, Saban responded to the reporter, "He's running routes on air, right? He's making really good catches on routes on air. That's all you're supposed to see, so that's all I can comment on."
Saban did say Smith and other freshman receivers are doing well and that they could "make a contribution" this season.
Asked a few minutes later about Minkah Fitzpatrick, Saban said the junior defensive back "does it as well as anybody I've ever coached" in terms of preparation, work ethic and performance.
He then got a bit more colorful with his response, adding, "I've heard players say, 'I'm going to save it for the game.' Every one of the teams I've had where players say that - ain't none of them been worth a (expletive). He doesn't do that."
The final question concerned redshirt junior outside linebacker Christian Miller and how he's been a reliable backup and will be "another pass-rushing guy" for the Tide.
"You guys make all these predictions about guys who are going to be great players because they've been here for two years and who's going to win the games," Saban said. "I don't even know why we play. Why do we even have practice? Why do we compete?
"You guys have all the answers of how guys are going to be and what they're going to do."
Saban then complimented Miller, saying he compiled a lot of production points in the first scrimmage. He left the news conference smiling.
Hurricane sighting?
The Tuscaloosa News reported Wednesday night that Alabama and Miami could meet in a Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in 2021. The Crimson Tide will open this season against Florida State in Atlanta's new Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and Alabama and Duke will play in the 2019 Chick-fil-A matchup.
Alabama and Miami played for the national championship after the 1992 season, with the Crimson Tide rolling to a 34-13 upset in the Sugar Bowl.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.