It's a sight no one wanted to see.
In the Crimson Tide's game against Tennessee, Alabama wide receiver Jaylen Waddle suffered a season ending injury on the very first play of the game.
Waddle underwent surgery that night and on Monday Coach Saban told us the surgery was very successful.
"They did the surgery that night and he's been in the hospital since," said Alabama head football coach Nick Saban. "He's been pretty groggy. He was going to come see me today but I'm probably going to talk to him later today or tomorrow. But the surgery was very very successful. And the long term prognosis for his surgery is very good. Derrick Henry had this surgery here, Kenyan Drake had the surgery here."
For the Tide, it's the next man up mentality. Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Slade Bolden came in for Waddle in Saturday's game and ultimately helped kick start Alabama to their first scoring drive of the game.
"He's done a good job. He did a good job in the game and he's one of the guys that I really was referring to when I said a lot of guys had to step up. You know I guess it's a good lesson for young players that you're one play away from being in the game and that's why it's important for you to prepare the way you need to prepare. But Slade has got some maturity and has some experience and he really stepped up well for us in the game," said Saban.
Coach Saban and the Tide are now shifting their focus to Saturday's game against Mississippi State. The Bulldogs started off the season with a bang; beating the defending national champions LSU. But since then, things have gone down hill. They have yet to win another game -- and matter of fact -- they haven't scored more than 14 points in their last 3 games.
But defensively it's a different story, as statistically speaking, they have one of the best defenses in the conference.
"Defensively they really played well this year. They are one of the top defensive teams in the league, they play hard, very physical. They have a little different kind of scheme so this is really going to be a little bit of a different preparation for us on both sides of the ball relative to what we normally see," said Saban.
The Tide will be taking on The Bulldogs this Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium, kickoff will be at 6 p.m.
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