Tide's Upchurch continues to battle injuries

TUSCALOOSA — Roy Upchurch was missing from the running backs drills in Thursday’s practice, but he made an appearance in the media room after the Tide’s workout.

Alabama coach Nick Saban disclosed Upchurch’s injury as a “pulled muscle.” Upchurch said he tweaked a groin.

“It’s nothing major. They told me to just chill out for a while,” said the 6-foot, 205-pound senior from Tallahassee, Fla.

“He’s missed a couple days of practice, but nothing serious,” Saban said. “He’ll be back. He’s day-to-day.”

Minor or not, the oft-injured Upchurch clearly is aching to get back to 100 percent.

He was held out of contact all spring as he rehabbed from disc fusion surgery to repair a pinched nerve in his neck.

He gained a career-high 350 yards and scored four touchdowns last season. He rushed for 86 yards against Tennessee.

But he missed four of the last five games of last season with the neck pain. He had brief playing time against Auburn.

Upchurch suffered a detached tendon in both ankles as a freshman and later came back from shoulder surgery.

He rolled his eyes when asked about his frustration with the injuries.

“Man, I’ve been doing all I can to take care of myself. The harder I work the easier it is for something to go wrong,” Upchurch said. “But I’m still working hard,
trying to do everything I can to get better. Still pushing. I’ll try to go Saturday (in the Tide’s second scrimmage).”

Upchurch was credited with 17 yards on four carries in last Saturday’s scrimmage.

Teammate Mark Ingram said Upchurch is “better than his old self, in my opinion.”

“I think he’s made a really good improvement from the neck surgery,” Ingram said. “Roy’s got a little shake and is explosive.”

Saban said Upchurch was day-to-day and praised running backs Ingram, Terry Grant and freshman Trent Richardson for their performances in training camp.

“Roy’s been a really good player for us and we hope to get him healthy so he can get out there and compete as well,” the coach said.

Man in black: Freshman defensive back Dre Kirkpatrick was in a black (non-contact) jersey at the start of Thursday’s practice, although he did run through drills.

Saban said Kirkpatrick also had a pulled muscle and hadn’t practiced for two days. The coach said several other players had some bumps and bruises.

“(Marquis) Maze missed one practice; he was fine today. Julio (Jones) sprained his ankle a little bit; he hasn’t missed any practice,” Saban said.

“They’re day to day. We’re hopeful they’ll be back and be able to scrimmage and I think in some cases they will, but we’ll manage it day to day and see how they do.”

Expanded roster: Alabama worked out in the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility on Thursday with weather threatening the Tuscaloosa area at 3:30 p.m.

The field was noticeably more crowded since the 105-man limit for training camp has been lifted. A few scholarship players and walk-ons are now on the field.

“We’ve obviously had an addition, with school starting, of 20 to 25 new players,” Saban said. “Kellen Williams, a scholarship player who was not cleared medically to start fall camp, is probably still several weeks away from full go, but able to do some functional things out there.

“And we have a lot of other walk-ons, quite a few that have been in the program before, and this will definitely help our ability to prepare for games down the road with the additional depth and numbers that it gives us.”

Older QB hopeful: Among the newcomers is quarterback Chris Vines, whose route to Nick Saban’s squad is noteworthy.

Vines, a 6-foot-5, 215-pound 24-year-old, was a quarterback at Pelham High. He was an even better baseball player and signed a baseball scholarship with Florida in 2003.

He never made it to Gainesville. Instead, the promising pitcher signed out of high school with the Braves’ organization, who picked him in the fifth round of the 2003 June draft.

He was 23-16 in five seasons, primarily as a starter. An elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery in 2006 likely cost him his baseball career, but he’s back on the gridiron. Since he didn’t enroll at Florida, he’s got four years of eligibility to play football. He wore No. 19 at Thursday’s practice.