Kalen DeBoer Shares Alabama Health Update on Monday of Kentucky Week

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- On Monday, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer shared positive injury updates on three of Alabama's injured stars: running back AK Dear, safety Jireh Edwards, and wide receiver Noah Rogers.

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Dear suffered an ankle injury in Alabama's first scrimmage of fall camp and did not participate in the second scrimmage or Alabama's opening-season victory over East Carolina. Dear was spotted alongside safety Jireh Edwards and wide receiver Noah Rogers warming up pregame ahead of the Tide's 38-point win over the Pirates. Edwards suffered an upper-body injury in practice before Alabama's first game of the season. Both have returned to practice for the Crimson Tide.

"Yeah, I think your guys that are the closest are Jireh [Edwards] and AK [Dear]," head coach Kalen DeBoer shared with reporters on Monday. "And then Noah just down the road here, just a little bit."

All three participating in pregame warmups, despite not playing on Saturday, was part of Alabama's rehab plan. "But wanted to get them out there, just keep the progression part of their transitions back," DeBoer said, "but I think Jireh and AK you can see here very soon, and all three, just their process of recovery has gone very smooth, probably quicker than you’d expect, but we also got to be careful.”

Rogers suffered a lower-body injury during Alabama's annual spring A-Day scrimmage, but is ahead of his recovery timeline.

No. 13 Alabama (1-0) will face Kentucky (1-0) on Saturday, September 12, at Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.