Tide notebook: Prattville safety commits

TUSCALOOSA — Alabama landed its fourth verbal commitment Wednesday when Prattville safety Nick Perry said he will play for the Crimson Tide.

Perry, a 6-foot-1, 190-pounder, had offers from Auburn, LSU, Vanderbilt among others, according to rivals.com.
“I feel real comfortable with Alabama,” Perry said in an interview on BamaOnLine.com. “I love the way their defense plays and how aggressive and physical they are. That is the mentality we play with at Prattville, and I wanted to continue that in college.”

Perry had four interceptions and six breakups, along with 37 tackles his junior season with the Lions.

He joins a class that includes running back Jalston Fowler of Prichard, wide receiver Keiwone Malone of Memphis and offensive lineman Austin Shepherd of Suwanee, Ga.

Tide injuries: Running back Mark Ingram missed Wednesday’s scrimmage with a hamstring injury coach Nick Saban said he suffered in Monday’s practice.

“He may be out for a week, he may be out for two,” Saban said. “We obviously want to try and get him healthy and get him back so that he can play a bit more in the spring, but we’re also not going to put him in a position where he’s at risk for his future.”

Another running back, Roy Upchurch, who has been practicing this spring while coming off neck surgery, also didn’t play in the scrimmage.

“He’s done very well in practices where we can control him being able to get reps and do things and not get hit,” Saban said of Upchurch. “I think it would be foolish on our part to have him take a shot and get set back at this point in his development.”

Receiver Earl Alexander, who continues to rehab after shoulder surgery but who is practicing this spring, also did not participate in the scrimmage.

Remember me? With Ingram and Upchurch sidelined, Terry Grant stood out among the running backs on Wednesday.

“Terry Grant did a really good job. He was by far the best,” Saban said after Grant gained 63 yards on 18 carries. “The other backs did fine. They didn’t have as good an opportunity, probably, as Terry Grant did. He took most of the reps with the first team. He did a good job running and we’re pleased with his result. He’s had a really good spring so far.”

Jeramie Griffin had 10 carries for 24 yards and a 2-yard touchdown run. Demetrius Goode carried four times for 23 yards. Ivan Matchett gained 19 yards on six attempts.

Kicking game stats: It didn’t come up after the scrimmage, but the kicking game had mixed results on the stat sheet.
Kicker Leigh Tiffin was 3-for-6, making field goals of 45, 42 and 20 yards, but missing on attempts of 54, 45 and 32 yards.
Corey Smith made field goals of 32 and 18 yards.

Returning starter P.J. Fitzgerald shared punting duties with Heath Thomas. Both had four punts. Fitzgerald averaged 42 yards, Thomas averaged 37.3 yards per punt.

Line of sight: With a lot of attention focused on the offensive line, Saban said guard Mike Johnson has “had a really good spring so far.”

The coach also singled out a good battle at center, where William Vlachos and David Ross, who started three games at guard last season, are competing to replace Antoine Caldwell.

Another battle is brewing at left tackle, where three-year starter Andre Smith has declared for the NFL Draft after his junior season.

“Left tackle, we’ve got to make improvement there,” Saban said. “James Carpenter’s shown some ability and done some good things. We have some young players who have showed some improvement. Tyler Love has improved dramatically.

“John Michael Boswell’s playing guard now, instead of tackle. We’ve got a lot of different parts that have been interchanged. So it’s going to take that group a while to develop consistency. We like the attitude and work ethic and I think they’re making nice progress.”