Saban: Smith 'doubtful' for Tulane game

Smith, the Crimson Tide's starting left tackle and a preseason All-American, was injured in last week's season-opener against Clemson. The 6-foot-4, 330-pound junior has not practiced at full speed this week.

"He's been doing rehab," Saban said. "He can jog straight ahead. I think cutting is the problem right now. He's got a sprained MCL. Inside lateral movement is the problem. They usually heal up nicely. They're not surgical; it's not going to be necessary. It will probably take about a week; we were hoping it would be faster than that. But he's making some progress."

Saban said that if Smith is unable to go Saturday, the Crimson Tide would keep the same offensive line with which it ended the Clemson game, including junior Mike Johnson (the Crimson Tide's regular left guard) at left tackle and sophomore David Ross at left guard.

In the event of another injury to a tackle, Saban said either sophomore Taylor Pharr or one of the Crimson Tide's true freshmen — Tyler Love, John Michael Boswell or Barrett Jones — would be forced into action next.

Wide receiver Earl Alexander worked alongside Smith on a stationary bike Wednesday, missing his third straight day of work with an ankle injury. Saban said Alexander is also "doubtful" for Saturday.

"I don't think they have long-term injury problems," Saban said. "I just don't know if they're going to recover fast enough to be ready on Saturday."

Saban added that wide receiver Will Oakley "continues to make progress" in his his return from a broken foot suffered in summer workouts. Oakley, a fifth-year senior, missed all of fall camp but has been working at close to full speed since classes began on Aug. 20.

"We have not made a decision on whether he'll contribute in the (Tulane) game or not," Saban said. "But he is practicing and running routes, and doing most things that we'd like for a receiver to be able to do."

Speaking of injuries, Saban said he has no cutoff point as to when injured players would be ruled out of a particular game. Saban said he treats such injuries on a case-by-case basis.

"I don't have a standard rule that if a guy doesn't practice on Wednesday, he can't play in a game on Saturday," Saban said. "It depends on the guy, depends on the player. Some guys can play hurt, some guys can't. Some guys can play with a minimal amount of preparation, some guys can't. So, I think it's a thing where you want to be fair and honest with your players, but you can't treat everybody the same. So we don't have a standard rule for that."