Tide notebook: Caldwell, Johnson discuss Johns

HOOVER — There wasn’t a way around it. Antoine Caldwell and Rashad Johnson knew they were going to be asked about Jimmy Johns.

Both men talked briefly about the situation. They weren’t dwelling on their former teammate’s arrest on cocaine charges and immediate dismissal from the program.

Simply put, there’s no defending the indefensible.

“There comes some point in time you gotta go to the house. You gotta go home,” Caldwell said.

The senior center from Montgomery said Johns made a terrible decision.

“No matter what coach, what program there is, what activities there are, at some point in time when you lay your head down, you got to do the right thing,” Caldwell said. “He didn’t do it. Unfortunately, he got caught up. We wish Jimmy the best, but we’ve got to move forward.”

“Everybody has consequences to their actions,” Johnson said. “We took it and moved on with it. We’re not trying to dwell in the past. We’re trying to move forward and have a great season this year.”

Johnson said the situation is made worse because there are things in place at Alabama to help a player make better decisions.

“We have programs like character development and peer intervention. These are great things we have at the university that are helping people out every day,” the safety said.

“Know that we’re doing everything humanly possible and the coaches are doing everything possible to secure player’s health. A lot of players in those programs get help,” Caldwell said.

There isn’t much else to say. Caldwell understands the black eye the program took.

“We realize how important it is that we have the image and reputation we’re trying to uphold for this team and this university,” he said.

“Like I said, my heart goes out to Jimmy and his family. But you’ve got to make good decisions. You got to move forward from it.”

Big opener: Alabama’s Aug. 30 season opener against Clemson in Atlanta has Caldwell and Johnson stoked.

“That’s huge, exciting for us,” Caldwell said of the 7 p.m. kickoff in the Georgia Dome. “It’s rare when you start the season that your first game is one of the biggest.”

Johnson said the game is less about SEC vs. ACC than it is about getting off to a good start.

“The ACC has great teams and the SEC has great teams,” Johnson said. “It’s exciting for me because they have lots of explosive players. It’ll be a big challenge. It will set the tone for how the rest of the season will go.”

Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban said Clemson will provide an early snapshot of where Alabama stands.

“I think one thing that the Clemson game will do for us early in the season is ... enhance our development in terms of our identity as a team. It will certainly show us where we are in terms of how we compete against one of the best team in the country,” he said. “I also think that’s gonna help us down the road in our league.”

Team strength: Caldwell said he has no doubt the offensive line should be an area of strength for the Tide.

“There’s no excuses,” Caldwell said. “Almost everybody’s back. I don’t think we’ve convinced enough people about how good we are.”

Due to injuries and suspensions, Alabama had to shuffle lineman around the last half of the 2007 season. That should pay dividends this year.

Andre Smith returns at left tackle. Mike Johnson shifts back to left guard. Caldwell returns to center. Marlon Davis is back at right guard.

Caldwell said Drew Davis will likely be the starting right tackle at the opening of camp. He will battle with Taylor Pharr. Freshman Tyler Love is one of the top prospects in the freshman class, but Caldwell said it’s a tall order to start up front in the SEC.

“It’s tough,” he said. “Offensive line is probably the toughest position to start as a freshman in the SEC. Right now it’s too early to know if those guys are going to be able to start or contribute in any kind of way. But we just hope, if not anything else, just to compete to get a job, that’s going to help all of us out.”

Injury report: Saban was asked his opinion of a new ACC rule requiring coaches to submit an NFL-style injury report each week.
“I would have no problem with it if everybody had to do it the same way,” he said. “In the NFL we had to do it the same way. Some coaches tried to take advantage of it.”

Saban smiled before alluding to his former boss, Bill Belichick, whose disdain for the injury report is well known.

“One of my buddies, in fact, used to have about 20 guys every week that was ‘probable,’ ” Saban said — temporarily protecting Belichick’s “anonymity” — before adding, “including Tom Brady.”

McClain bounces back: Alabama middle linebacker Rolando McClain looks fully healed from his motorcycle accident earlier this summer.
“He’s doing great. I think he’s fully recovered,” Johnson said. “I think he has some pain every now and then. But he’s out there every day running and doing 7-on-7 work.”