Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

On Monday, Nick Saban had an encouraging update on Will Anderson, Alabama’s star outside linebacker who injured his leg in the Crimson Tide’s win over Mercer last weekend. With a huge SEC game against the Florida Gators coming up, Alabama fans certainly hope the preseason All-SEC linebacker will be able to play.

Will Anderson has been very encouraging,” Saban said. “He’ll probably take a day off today, is kind of day-to-day. But we feel a little more encouraged than maybe after the game. We’ll just see how he progresses through the course of the week.”

Wednesday, Saban met with the media again and had some new updates on Anderson’s availability. While he didn’t commit to the freshman playing on Saturday, he did seem optimistic that the linebacker will be ready to go by then.

“We’re taking it day by day,” Saban said on the SEC media teleconference. “If he continues to make improvement throughout the rest of the week, he certainly could play in the game.”

If Anderson isn’t able to play, Saban seems to have a lot of confidence in Chris Bras well and Dallas Turner as replacements ready to step up.

“Those two guys are two very unique players,” Saban said of Allen and Anderson. “I’m not sure you really replace them but these other guys are capable. They’re young guys who don’t have the same amount of experience but we’re certainly confident they can go in and do a good job for us.”

Given how much many college football fans are looking at this game as a chance for a major upset, including former Florida coach Steve Spurrier, you better believe Nick Saban is going to want his very best players ready to go this weekend.

[AL.com]

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Editorial Strategy Director for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.