Alabama held its 14th spring football practice Thursday afternoon, leaving only Saturday's A-Day game inside Bryant-Denny Stadium to wrap up the 15 workouts allotted by the NCAA.
"No one ever has a bad recruiting class, and no one ever has a bad spring," Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said Thursday night in a news conference. "We had a good spring and had a lot of guys get better. We were also fortunate to get through it with a minimal amount of injuries.
"I really like the competitive character of this team."
Among those sitting out A-Day will be redshirt junior outside linebacker Terrell Lewis, junior right tackle Jedrick Wills and junior tight end Major Tennison. Wills injured an ankle last week but it will not require surgery, Saban said, while Tennison is in concussion protocol.
Lewis tore an ACL last year during summer workouts.
"He's getting better, and there is no sense in making him play," Saban said.
Saturday's A-Day game will start at 2 p.m. EDT, and it will be televised by ESPN2.
Saban said the goal for his 13th spring extravaganza in Tuscaloosa is to make it as much like a game as possible. The Crimson team will consist of the first-team offense and the backup defense, while the White team will contain the backup offense and the first-team defense.
Saturday's game-like aspect will include plenty of motivation, with the victorious team to feast on steak and the losers left with beans.
"The winning team gets flowers on the table and gets waited on," Saban said. "The losing team gets paper plates and one pot of baked beans."
Saban is hopeful of another "special" A-Day, with the Tide's spring game having produced three crowds in excess of 90,000 (2007, 2010 and 2011). The first 10 A-Day games of the Saban era averaged nearly 81,000 spectators, with an announced 74,426 attending the 2017 game and 74,732 last April.
"We've had some wonderful crowds," Saban said.
Tide tidbits
Saban praised redshirt junior center Chris Owens after Thursday's practice, saying the 6-foot-3, 310-pounder from Arlington, Texas, has performed well and shown a lot of leadership. Jalyn Armour-Davis, Shyheim Carter, Trevon Diggs, Jared Mayden and Patrick Surtain have each worked at the "star" position (fifth defensive back) this spring.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.