A few notes from the media viewing period.

-- Tua Tagovailoa had a slightly different tape pattern on his left ankle. Both shoes had a black tape running up the leg. He did some footwork drills that put stress on the ankle and the quarterback appeared to handle it all well.

-- Tagovailoa earlier Wednesday said he wasn’t yet cutting on his injured ankle but planned to be 100 percent by the Orange Bowl on Dec. 29. There wasn’t a noticeable difference in the velocity he had on passes thrown in warmups to the receivers.

-- There were a few notable scout team jerseys spotted. Receiver Slade Bolden was wearing the No. 1 of Kyler Murray since he was an athletic quarterback in high school.

-- At running back, Ronnie Clark had the No. 4 of Trey Sermon and Kendall Norris had the No. 22 of T.J. Pledger.

-- It was interesting watching Mike Locksley leading Alabama’s offense. The new Maryland head coach certainly had a busy day as his Terps sit at No. 79 in 247Sports’ composite of recruiting rankings with six players who signed Wednesday.

-- It’s also worth noting Butch Jones is still on the job in Tuscaloosa as an offensive analyst. He’ll reportedly join Locksley at Maryland as the tight ends coach after the season.

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Not a practice note, but Tua Tagovailoa told us earlier today he was doing well and expected to be 100 percent in time for the game. He has done everything but cut on his injured ankle in practice.
We saw Chris Allen (ACL) walking out with some of the strength coaches early in practice, but he was in full pads. Terrell Lewis (ACL) continued to work with the OLBs during individual position drills.
Some updates on the early enrollees as they get acclimated: Pierce Quick and Paul Tyson were in full pads. John Metchie was in shoulder pads and basketball shorts. DJ Dale remained in shorts as he starts his acclimatization period.
Deonte Brown (turf toe) was working with the first team offensive line at left guard. He’s been dressed and participating in practice recently but this was the first time we’ve seen him with the starters in a while.
Alabama does have some of its scout team players wearing Marquise Brown’s No. 5 jersey. Brown is questionable for the game with an ankle injury, though recent updates have been a bit more favorable about his chances to play.

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As expected, Alabama did not have LG Deonte Brown, OT Elliot Baker and TE Kedrick James. They did not travel after being suspended for a violation of team rules.
Without Brown, Lester Cotton took reps with the first team offensive line at left guard.
The second team offensive line, left to right, was Scott Lashley, Emil Ekiyor, Chris Owens and Matt Womack.
Analyst Butch Jones was with the team today. Mike Locksley said earlier in the day that Jones hadn’t signed a contract with him at Maryland. My read was that there’s a good chance he’s joining the staff there but it isn’t a done deal yet so he couldn’t say anything. In any event, Jones remains with Alabama for now.
Captains Ross Pierschbacher, Damien Harris, Hale Hentges and Christian Miller led the team through stretches.
DE Isaiah Buggs (hyperextended knee) had a wrap on his left knee but was moving better than he was in the SEC championship.
OLBs Terrell Lewis and Chris Allen were both dressed and participating in drills. Miller and Anfernee Jennings were first in drills, followed by Jamey Mosley, then Lewis, Jarez Parks, Allen, Eyabi Anoma and Cameron Latu.
The team seemed pretty loose overall. During the “ball-out” drill at the start of practice, a defensive player went to the field side to make a tackle rather than pushing the offensive player to the sideline. When he missed the tackle, Craig Kuligowski and the other players reminded him “the sideline has never missed a tackle.”

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Much of what we saw was covered yesterday. Not a lot new overall.
Tua Tagovailoa (ankle) continued to practice. Nothing much new from his status after we spoke to him yesterday. If you’re curious, here’s what he said this morning.
Tagovailoa: “I believe we’ll be able to feel a lot more comfortable in the pocket, moving around. You know, yesterday was a testament to that. I got the opportunity to do a lot of things in practice that I wasn’t able to do the last week.”
Isaiah Buggs (hyperextended knee) was also practicing. He had a brace or a wrap on his left leg, same as yesterday.
Terrell Lewis and Chris Allen continued to practice with the outside linebackers, though they won’t play in this game.
Trevon Diggs is not practicing. He remains on schedule in his rehab and is with the team but is still out for the season.
Greg Byrne was checking out practice this afternoon.
The team still seemed loose overall. We were near the OLBs during an individual drill and players were giving a teammate a hard time when he dropped an interception. Everyone seemed in good spirits.

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