Alabama came away with the win Saturday. However, the Crimson Tide might have lost one of its most valuable defensive players in the process.
Christian Harris came up holding his left shoulder after making a tackle on the opening scrimmage of Alabama’s 52-3 victory over Arkansas. The sophomore linebacker was taken into the team’s medical tent before leaving for the locker room. He was replaced by junior Jaylen Moody and did not return to the game. Following the game, head coach Nick Saban provided an update on Harris’ status moving forward.
“Christian hurt his shoulder. I don’t know exactly how bad it is yet,” Saban said. “Doc said they’re going to do an MRI on him, and he said he didn’t know for sure the extent (of the injury). But that would determine whether or not he could come back and play this week or how long he would be out. I can’t really comment on that right now.”
No. 1 Alabama will play No. 6 Florida in the SEC Championship Game next Saturday in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Harris is a semifinalist for this year’s Butkus Award. The starting Will linebacker is Alabama’s leading tackler with 65 stops through 10 games. He also has five tackles for a loss, 2.5 sacks, six quarterback hurries and two pass breakups.
Moody finished tied for the team lead with seven tackles Saturday while also recording a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
“I’m so proud of him,” Alabama defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis said. “That’s the way we need guys to step up. I think he did a very great job of that, and like Coach says, ‘Next man up.’ You can’t worry about that. You’ve got to keep rolling.”
