The Terrell Lewis comeback journey has been placed on hold.
Alabama’s redshirt junior outside linebacker was poised for a monstrous 2018 season, but it was scratched due to a torn ACL in early July. The 6-foot-5, 256-pounder from Washington, D.C., began this spring working with the Crimson Tide again but missed workouts last Friday and Saturday.
Following Tuesday’s practice, the sixth of the 15 allotted by the NCAA, coach Nick Saban explained why.
“We cleaned his knee up, and as a precautionary thing he’ll be very, very limited all spring long,” Saban said in a news conference. “I think our goal is to get him ready for the summer and to keep on pushing him so that he will be ready for the fall.”
Lewis tore an elbow ligament in the 2017 season opener, a 24-7 win over Florida State in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. He returned for that season’s Iron Bowl and was not overly effective in the 26-14 loss to Auburn, but he helped the Crimson Tide dominate Clemson 24-6 in the Sugar Bowl national semifinal.
In the national championship game against Georgia, Lewis sacked quarterback Jake Fromm in overtime on a third-and-6 at Alabama’s 21-yard line. His sack resulted in a 13-yard loss to the 34, which ended Georgia’s chances at a touchdown and resulted in a 51-yard field goal by Rodrigo Blankenship that provided the Bulldogs a 23-20 advantage.
Alabama scored two plays later and won 26-23.
Saban said he is pleased with the team’s progress so far and that his roster has a nice blend of experience and youth, which includes 15 midyear enrollees. He added that the offensive line has been impressive under new position coach Kyle Flood.
Tuesday not only marked the sixth spring practice but the first since Avery Johnson officially was let go after four seasons as men’s basketball coach. Saban soon will be working with a fourth hoops coach, having outlasted Mark Gottfried, Anthony Grant and Johnson.
“I love Avery, and I think he’s a great guy,” Saban said. “We had a great relationship here and tried to help him every way that we could. We certainly wish him and his family the very best. I also have confidence in our leadership here that they’re going to make good choices in terms of who is going to lead every program.”
Alabama has participated in only two NCAA basketball tournaments since Saban’s hiring in January 2007.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.