Alabama quarterback Mac Jones and Carolina Panthers coach Matt Rhule are unsure whether the player who signed the Crimson Tide will be able to play at Reese’s Senior Bowl on Saturday after not training on Thursday. market.
After training at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Jones told reporters that “my ankle has rolled a little. At first, I was a little worried about my right leg, and now my left leg is a little hurt. “
Jones did not rule out playing in Saturday’s star game, however.
“There is a chance,” said Jones. “I just have to see how I feel. Like, I’m not going to go around if I’m not 100 percent. It is not fair to my teammates not to be 100 percent and try to play and not play well, so I will make the decision. But, hopefully, I can get treatment and see how it goes. “
Rhule, who runs the American team with his Carolina coaching staff, said he didn’t “have much idea” of what happened to Jones.
“He stayed there for a while, he started limping at the end,” said Rhule, “so I just said, ‘Hey, why don’t you go see the coach?’ The last thing I want to do is watch the boy get beaten. He was going through a difficult time. I thought he had a good day, he just needed to be healed. …
“I’m not sure if it’s something from the national championship game or something. I don’t think it’s something that happened here, but I could be wrong. Kevin (King), our trainer is conducting our training material, let me know that he was a little limited. I thought he was the best he could be, so I’ll wait and see what Kevin says about the game. “
The American team has two other defenders – Kellen Mond from Texas A&M and Jamie Newman from Wake Forest. Newman joined Georgia as a graduate student last year, but never played for the Bulldogs.
Rhule said he did not know which defender would start the game if Jones did not play.
“I haven’t talked to the coaches yet,” said Rhule after Thursday’s training. “Even in all positions, I have just asked coaches to continue rotating whoever plays, so that everyone has an idea. But since we’re still doing this, we’ll meet tonight and tomorrow and sort of sort out all these things. We had a lot of guys getting hurt, so let’s see who’s available for the game and play against them ”.
While Senior Bowl practices are scrutinized by general managers and NFL scouts, Rhule said Saturday’s game was also an important assessment tool.
“I think there are a lot of players out there who are very good at training, very good at training,” said Rhule. “In practice, everything is programmed. Sometimes you can examine the script, see what the next play is and process it, I think. We did a two-minute exercise today and this is as close as possible to a reaction in the game, so I think for all players, playing is vital. …
“For me, I like to see as much as I can of everyone and what they do when the bullets are flying and the game is real.”
Rhule liked what he saw of Jones this week.
“I’m very impressed with who he is,” said Rhule. “I was impressed with your character, your courage, your conceit. I mean, he has everything. You can see why your companions follow you. He has a great way with other people. He’s been a very productive defender and I think he’s shown a lot of things he can do this week. He is very smart. It is accurate. He can move his feet. It can slip into the pocket. For me, getting to know him, I can see why everyone praises him and why he had the success he had. “
The 72nd annual Senior Bowl begins at 1:30 pm CST on Saturday at Hancock Whitney Stadium on the South Alabama campus. The NFL Network will broadcast the game on television.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @ AMarkG1.