In just two weeks, Alabama football will be opening the season at Bryant-Denny Stadium for the first time since 2011, and the team will hold its second scrimmage of fall camp there this Saturday.
Now entering his fourth season, DJ Dale knows how important this time of year is for getting players ready mentally and physically for the season.
"It’s very important because we practice and scrimmage so hard, so it kind of replicates the game," Dale said Thursday. "If you want to get the outcome in the game, you have to work hard in these scrimmages and really push yourself.”
The Crimson Tide practiced outdoors for two hours in shells under partly cloudy skies with temperatures in the high 80s on the Thomas-Drew Practice Fields.
Dale said that at this point in the preseason, it's not necessarily more difficult, it's just important to listen to what Coach Saban wants the players to do.
"Right now we're heading towards the end of camp and your body is kind of banged up," Dale said. "Really I think the focus is on taking care of our bodies and doing what we're coached to do."
This story will be updated with video. All video and photos courtesy of Alabama Athletics.
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