FLORENCE, Ala. — Nothing screams Alabama like football in August... especially when the heat index is in the triple digits. Imagine wearing shoulder pads.
“They felt heavy,” said defensive back KJ Smith. “The sun was beaming on us. It was a very hot day. It was hard. It was hard in the shoulder pads. It's totally different when you have got weight on your shoulders. Makes it harder to get out your breaks. Makes running a little bit harder. Feels like you got something holding you down. So, yeah it's definitely harder.”
“I don't know if it really does anything to their mindset when it comes to the heat,” said Head Football Coach Chris Willis. “If anything it gets them kind of excited about flying around today, hitting a little bit, they want to make some contact. The heat probably plays more of a factor when you got all of it on pants all the way down to your knees.”
One silver lining from Monday’s practice was that the team continued to break in their new turf.
“Feels really good on our feet,” said Coach Willis. “That's the main thing, is the comfort of it. The last one had some spots that were really rough and ripped up and it was hard walking on it. But this has a better feel to it...they did a good job.”
And this change is especially important to KJ Smith who battled turf toe last year.
“I caught a pick against Liberty and then a dude came from behind and tackled me,” explained Smith. “My big toe kind of hyper-extended. And then the big joint is irritated. It's just constant pain, constant pain. the ground is hard so whenever you cut, whenever you break you can kind of feel it. Every time you plant that toe. Having the new turf here kind of relieves the pain a little bit.”
The Lions kick off their season against Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday, September 4th.