Alabama redshirt junior outside linebacker Terrell Lewis has played in only four games the past two seasons.
A torn elbow ligament sidelined him for 10 games during the Crimson Tide’s run to the 2017 national championship, and a torn ACL last summer shelved him for all of last season. It’s not the career Lewis drew up when he arrived in Tuscaloosa as a five-star prospect from Washington, D.C., but he’s not asking for sympathy.
“That’s just a part of the game,” Lewis said this week in a news conference, “and it’s why we preach to guys to stay ready, because you never know when it’s going to happen. It’s a testament to what we’ve been through around here.
“We’ve seen guys go down, and we have to be prepared.”
The injury bug has feasted on Alabama’s linebackers in recent years, with the latest casualty being Joshua McMillon. The fifth-year senior, who was occupying one of the first-team inside spots alongside junior Dylan Moses, suffered a knee injury during Saturday’s scrimmage that will require surgery and likely keep him out for the season.