Everything Ryan Grubb said after Alabama’s fifth preseason practice

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama held its fifth preseason practice on Tuesday morning, and after the August 5 workout, first-year offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb spoke to reporters inside the Hank Crisp Indoor Practice Facility. Below is everything Grubb said after Practice 5.

Grubb on if there is a sense of urgency at other position battles on offense…

“I think you’ve got a little bit more time with those, a little more grace. They’ve been doing a good job of fighting all those battles, and we’re rotating a lot of guys in through that offensive line unit. I’m OK with the gel taking a little bit more time up front.”

Grubb on Geno VanDeMark, Olaus Alinen being able to play multiple spots…

“The flex position, especially an experienced guy like Geno, is extremely important. If you can play multiple spots, especially if you’re a guy who can snap the football or push yourself out to tackle, life’s gonna be really, really good for you upfront because you’ve got guys who can do both.”

Grubb on the snap plan for Alabama’s quarterbacks…

“Right now, we’re keeping it status quo. All the guys have been getting ones, twos and threes, with the exception of Ty. He’s the only guy that’s not taking any three reps. So really, it’s been status quo. But today, everybody got a couple racks with the ones, and Ty took a couple with the twos. So, we’re still moving them around, and the guys know that there’s a pretty clean picture moving forward throughout the week.”

Grubb on how he divides his time on the practice field…

“I’m always going to hunker pretty close to the quarterback, just because that relationship that I have to have for gameday. But it does at times, especially if there’s something specific in a game plan or drill work that I think has to be addressed to see if we can fix some problems, I’m certainly going to be over for those drills on any of the position groups. The flexibility is huge and just having guys you can trust in the quarterback room, like Nick, is ultra-important.”

Grubb on the progress of Alabama’s quarterbacks after one week…

“They’ve grown a ton. Spring to now, even first practice to now, has been outstanding. I thought a couple of the young guys hit a couple of bumps early on, and I really thought they played through it really quickly. Sometimes you’ll hit that, and they’ll stay down. They get on the canvas, and they can’t get back up. I thought both the guys did a great job. Keelon and Austin have played through that. We’ve had a lot less up and down with the whole room. I think that we’ve done a good job taking care of the football. Again, today there was no picks, and I really didn’t feel like the ball was in jeopardy today, and I think that’s one of the biggest things is just improved decision making in the room.”

Grubb on what he’s seen from Alabama’s running backs…

“Jam Miller, he’s the man. Love that guy. Jam’s been doing everything. I think the thing about a guy like Jam, you love older guys that don’t feel like their skill set’s complete. And what I mean by that is I think Jam really, wholeheartedly takes on, like there’s things that I can get better at. And he works at them extremely hard. He’s very diligent about his process. And so he’s a good leader in the room. I think Daniel has shown the physicality we thought with exceptional hands. I think Dre’s getting better at pass protection, as is Rich. And so those four guys have really shown a lot of growth. Even AK Dear is a guy that was really swimming this spring and has shown some promise here lately. Normally I don’t talk about those younger guys too much, but just been proud of his progress the last couple days. Been really good.” 

Grubb on how many running backs he expects to use…

“Whatever we need for the game plan. Sometimes there’s some specialty stuff that you need a little bit more of one type of back. And I think that we’re lucky that we have a lot of different types of backs. So I think that you normally are going into almost any game, you’re thinking there’s at least three guys that are gonna get considerable reps.”

Grubb on Jam Miller’s improvement in pass protection…

“I don’t know, he’s pretty solid right away. I would say physicality, but he’s always been super physical. I think his eyes have improved, just as far as where his first indicators are at and just following his rules. I think he was pretty dialed, honestly, even before the spring. I certainly think he continues to improve on that.”

Grubb on Isaiah Horton…

“Hungry. I mean, he’s a guy like today, he had a touchdown in the red zone and ran a really physical route in the middle third of the end zone that he had to win on tight coverage and he bodied a guy up and made a really really strong catch. I think he’s a guy that’s very critical of himself and he’s aware of the things he needs to get better at. I think that’s all you can ask out of a player and he’s certainly doing a good job of that.”

Grubb on how he teaches wide receiver blocking…

“Drill it, No. 1. Blocking circuit is for everybody. So for us, we do work. That part of our game from a circuit or a drillwork standpoint is something I know as a staff, we work every week, every day. The receivers are guys that it’s really — I guess the point I made the other day in the unit meeting was I said when I was here in the spring and we were going through practice, I felt like we had to find a guy to pick and point out that’s what it should look like and that was the guy that was standing out. Now, if there’s a guy not doing it right — tight hand and a good base, things like that — now, he’s the guy that’s standing out. So the room is completely flipped. I think it’s a belief system in the room, and they’ve certainly captured that.”

Grubb on fundamentals vs. install in fall camp…

“It’s gotta stay in there all year. I truly believe that. That’s a little bit of coach talk and saying the right thing on the mic, but I do. I think that guys can improve throughout the season, and you don’t know, it might be the third-string left guard that you gotta count on by the end of the year, so you gotta continually develop young players, and that’s a critical part of what we do. And so it has to be the same, in my opinion, all the way through the year. And you gotta be able to show them clips of what it used to look like, what it looks like now and what you want the finished product to look like. And we certainly do that every day right now.”

Grubb on Alabama’s depth along the offensive line…

“Really good, really good. I think the interior position, as mentioned before, there’s a lot of flexibility in guys that can play multiple spots, including not just Geno. Parker obviously solidifies the inside at the center spot, but Geno is really capable of center, as well, and can play both guard spots. At the tackle spot, we’re lucky, we got a couple of young tackles that are starting to progress, in Jackson and Michael Carroll. And then with Olaus, you got three young guys that are backing up your two starters as it is right now. And I think that we feel really confident in the depth that we have right now.”

Grubb on Jaylen Mbakwe’s transition as a blocker…

“I think it’s a lot if the culture in the room’s wrong. If the culture in the room isn’t that, hey, we catch touchdowns, but the expectation is that we’re gonna block. And when that culture’s right, it happens really quick, because they’re more than capable typically. Athleticism, the strength, all that stuff’s normally there. It’s more of a demeanor or a mindset. So when the room is right, I think it happens really quick.”

Grubb on what he’s seen from Jaylen Mbakwe this fall..

“I think Jaylen is one of the guys we haven’t talked about a bunch, but I think he’s really settling into his role as a receiver. He’s improving on route running. I think his hands are getting better, securing the football. I think he’s doing a really nice job. He’s showing up quite a bit already.”

Grubb on what led to the mindset flip for the wide receivers…

“It’s a combination. That’s a good question. I think certainly Shep and myself have that type of demeanor as far as the expectations in the room. It’s great when you got teach clips from guys like Rome Odunze that are blocking, and Jalen McMillan that are more than willing to be blockers. And then you show them NFL clips, and those guys are all expected to insert on hammer nail, and you got Puka Nakua and guys like that, that aren’t scared to put their nose in there, and the DK Metcalfs in the world. So I think when you’re able to show them that, and like, hey, this is what it’s supposed to look like, and then your guys start doing it, you can start showing it on film and just positively reinforce what it’s supposed to look like. So I do think it’s a combination of both.

“That was a long answer for that, I apologize. Holy smokes.”

Grubb on what gets him excited about this offense so far…

“Man, honestly, I’m really excited about the way the O-line’s playing, the physicality that they’ve been showing and the leadership that Parker’s been able to have. And then KP, I think, has really, it’s been so fun to coach him. He’s a hungry guy that obviously is a super talented player and God-given ability, but he works really hard and very diligent about his process. So seeing that, and then just already the improvement in the quarterback room fires me up.” 

Grubb on having an offensive line with guys who can lift 500 pounds…

“Yeah, it sure does. I’ve been on the other end of that, and it’s not as fun. So yeah, anytime you get a bunch of guys that can move them from A to B, life’s pretty good.”

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