Alabama

Alabama NFL roundup: No Jalen Hurts, no problem for DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia Eagles

Published

12 months ago

December 30, 2024

Alabama NFL roundup: No Jalen Hurts, no problem for DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia Eagles

Philadelphia wide receiver DeVonta Smith has played in five of his 68 NFL games without former Alabama teammate Jalen Hurts as the Eagles quarterback, including on Sunday. In two of those five games, Smith has caught two touchdown passes, including on Sunday.

In the Eagles’ 41-7 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, Smith had six receptions for 120 yards and two touchdowns even though Hurts missed the game after sustaining a concussion in last week’s 36-33 loss to the Washington Commanders.

While Hurts has been on the throwing end of 23 of Smith’s 27 TD catches, the former Alabama All-American has had two of his three two-touchdown games with Hurts’ backups on the field.

Against the Cowboys, Smith caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Kenny Pickett as Philadelphia took a 14-7 lead with 6:38 left in the first half.

After Pickett left with a rib injury, Smith caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Tanner McKee with 10:03 remaining.

Smith caught two touchdown passes from Hurts in a 30-13 victory over the Denver Broncos on Nov. 14, 2021, and two touchdown passes from Gardner Minshew in a 40-34 loss to Dallas on Dec. 24, 2022.

Smith’s second 100-yard game of season was the 11th of his career. He has two more in postseason play.

By improving to 13-3, the Eagles clinched the NFC East title and the accompanying home game in the first round of the postseason.

WHAT DOES JALEN HURTS HAVE TO DO TO PLAY QUARTERBACK AGAIN FOR THE EAGLES?

Smith was among the 32 former Alabama players who got on the field on the 17th Sunday of the NFL’s 105th season.

Six other former Alabama players were involved in the Dallas-Philadelphia game:

Landon Dickerson started at left guard for the Eagles.

Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was designated as a game-day inactive. Hurts sustained a concussion in Philadelphia’s previous game.

Eagles cornerback Eli Ricks did not record any stats.

Eagles offensive lineman Tyler Steen did not record any stats.

Eagles defensive tackle Byron Young is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

In the other Sunday games:

Buffalo Bills 40, New York Jets 14

Bills wide receiver Amari Cooper had three receptions for 56 yards and one touchdown. Cooper caught a 30-yard pass from quarterback Josh Allen as Buffalo took a 19-0 lead with 5:13 remaining in the third quarter. The receptions boosted Cooper’s career totals to 711 catches for 10,033 yards and 64 touchdowns. Cooper became the 57th player in NFL history to reach 10,000 receiving yards in regular-season play.

Bills safety Kareem Jackson is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley (Theodore) is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

Bills wide receiver Tyrell Shavers caught a 69-yard touchdown pass. Buffalo elevated Shavers from its practice squad to make him eligible to play on Sunday for the third time in his NFL career. The only pass by Bills backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky on Sunday went to Shavers, and he turned his first NFL interception into a long-distance touchdown even though he caught the football behind the line of scrimmage.

TYRELL SHAVERS SCORES 69-YARD TOUCHDOWN ON HIS FIRST NFL CATCH

Quinnen Williams (Wenonah) started at defensive tackle for the Jets. Williams made two tackles.

Jacksonville Jaguars 20, Tennessee Titans 13

Mac Jones started at quarterback for the Jaguars. Jones completed 15-of-22 passes for 174 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions and ran six times for 22 yards. Jones threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Parker Washington as Jacksonville took a 10-0 lead with 8:59 left in the first half and an 11-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. as the Jaguars went ahead 20-10 with 7:05 to play. The Thomas TD came at the end of a 16-play, 74-yard drive that took 9:11. Jones made his fourth start since Trevor Lawrence went on injured reserve for the rest of the season. Jones had a 66.6 passing-efficiency rating in the first start – a 10-6 victory over Tennessee on Dec. 8. His rating has improved each game since, reaching 122.2 on Sunday for the fifth-best showing of his career. The Jaguars converted on 8-of-13 third-down snaps, and Jones got half of the conversions on the ground with three quarterback sneaks and a 9-yard scramble.

J.C. Latham started at left offensive tackle for the Titans. Latham became the 16th rookie to start at least 16 games for Tennessee. In the Titans’ regular-season finale next week, he could join cornerback Roger McCreary, a former Williamson High School and Auburn standout, as the only players to start 17 games as rookies for Tennessee.

Calvin Ridley started at wide receiver for the Titans. Ridley had five receptions for 84 yards and one rushing attempt that gained 7 yards. Ridley will go into the final game of the season needing 59 receiving yards to reach 1,000 for the 2024 campaign.

Jaguars running back Keilan Robinson did not record any stats.

Las Vegas Raiders 25, New Orleans Saints 10

Ga’Quincy “Kool-Aid” McKinstry (Pinson Valley) started at right cornerback for the Saints. McKinstry made three tackles.

New York Giants 45, Indianapolis Colts 33

Colts defensive tackle Raekwon Davis made one tackle.

Colts safety Ronnie Harrison did not record any stats.

Ryan Kelly started at center for the Colts.

Evan Neal started at right offensive tackle for the Giants.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48, Carolina Panthers 14

Buccaneers safety Marcus Banks is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

Buccaneers outside linebacker Chris Braswell recorded the first full sack of his NFL career. The second-round rookie had a strip sack of Carolina QB Bryce Young on a third-and-5 snap at the Tampa Bay 33-yard line with 7:39 left to play. Braswell caused Young to fumble, but the Panthers recovered.

Panthers defensive end LaBryan Ray (James Clemens) made one tackle.

A’Shawn Robinson started at defensive end for the Panthers. Robinson made two tackles.

Bryce Young started at quarterback for the Panthers. Young completed 15-of-28 passes for 203 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions and ran twice for 8 yards. Young returned to the Carolina lineup on Oct. 27 in a 28-14 loss to the Denver Broncos and started a nine-game streak with at least one touchdown pass in that contest. For the first time in his career, Young had two or more touchdown passes in consecutive games after throwing for two TDs in last week’s 36-30 overtime victory against the Arizona Cardinals. On Sunday, Young threw touchdown passes to wide receiver Adam Thielen of 17 yards with 8:15 left in the first quarter and 40 yards with 50 seconds left in the first half. On third down, Young completed 1-of-5 passes for 10 yards, was sacked twice and scrambled for a first down.

Miami Dolphins 20, Cleveland Browns 3

Browns cornerback Tony Brown is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

Browns guard Javion Cohen (Central-Phenix City) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

Jerome Ford started at running back for the Browns. Ford ran for 22 yards on six carries and returned a kickoff 23 yards before leaving the game because of an ankle injury.

Dolphins defensive tackle Da’Shawn Hand made one tackle and recovered one fumble. Hand recovered a fumble by Cleveland quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson at the Browns 45-yard line with 5:23 left in the third quarter. Hand’s only other NFL fumble recovery came on Oct. 7, 2018.

Jerry Jeudy started at wide receiver for the Browns. Jeudy had 12 receptions for 94 yards. Jeudy reached a career high for receptions, surpassing his 11 catches in a 21-7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Dec. 15.

Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was designated as a game-day inactive. A hip injury kept Tagovailoa out of the lineup.

Dalvin Tomlinson started at defensive tackle for the Browns. Tomlinson made three tackles and recorded one tackle for loss.

Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle was designated as a game-day inactive. A knee injury sidelined Waddle for the second game in a row.

Browns offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

Minnesota Vikings 27, Green Bay Packers 25

Josh Jacobs started at running back for the Packers. Jacobs ran for 69 yards and one touchdown on 17 carries. He extended his touchdown streak to seven games with a 2-yard run with 5:07 left in the third quarter as Green Bay cut Minnesota’s lead to 20-10. Jacobs also lost a 19-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to a holding penalty.

Xavier McKinney started at safety for the Packers. McKinney made seven tackles.

Vikings kicker Will Reichard (Hoover) made 2-of-4 field-goal attempts after entering the game 19-of-22 in his rookie season. Reichard made a 25-yard field goal with 2:16 left in the first half and a 50-yard field goal as time expired in the first half. Reichard had a 57-yard field-goal attempt hit the crossbar and a 43-yard field-goal attempt hit the left upright. Reichard also made three extra-point kicks on Sunday.

Cam Robinson started at left offensive tackle for the Vikings. Robinson’s 100th regular-season game was his 100th NFL start.

Vikings outside linebacker Dallas Turner recorded one sack. The sack was the third of the first-round rookie’s career.

Washington Commanders 30, Atlanta Falcons 24 (OT)

Commanders defensive tackle Jonathan Allen made one tackle. Allen returned from a nine-game injury absence and played in a reserve role for the first time in his 108 NFL regular-season games.

Falcons linebacker Rashaan Evans (Auburn High) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

Falcons safety DeMarcco Hellams is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

Falcons running back Jase McClellan is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

Daron Payne (Shades Valley) started at defensive tackle for the Commanders. Payne made two tackles.

Brian Robinson Jr. (Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa) started at running back for the Commanders. Robinson ran for 60 yards on 13 carries and caught two passes for 7 yards.

Week 17 started on Wednesday, when the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 29-10 and the Baltimore Ravens defeated the Houston Texans 31-2.

STEELERS’ NAJEE HARRIS HAS 4 1,000-YARD RUSHING PERFORMANCES IN 4 SEASONS

Week 17 continued on Thursday night, when the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Chicago Bears 6-3.

Three games were played on Saturday: The Los Angeles Chargers defeated the New England Patriots 40-7, the Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Denver Broncos 30-24 in overtime and the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Arizona Cardinals 13-9.

Week 17 concludes on Monday, when the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers square off at 7:15 p.m. CDT at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. ABC and ESPN will televise the game.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.

Source link

Alabama

Alabama’s Ty Simpson Could Rock Tuscaloosa With Jarring Decision

Published

1 hour ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Alabama’s Ty Simpson Could Rock Tuscaloosa With Jarring Decision

Earlier in the season, Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson appeared to be a shoo-in to enter the NFL Draft. In fact, some even felt he could be the first signal-caller off the board.

But circumstances have changed.

Simpson had a tumultuous end to the regular season and put forth a miserable performance against Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, completing just 48.7 percent of his passes in a blowout loss.

Could Simpson’s rough stretch ultimately cause him to stay in school for another year, and if he does, is it possible he could play somewhere other than Tuscaloosa?

The idea of Simpson foregoing the draft and then entering the transfer portal has been gaining steam. In fact, sources have told Rob Gregson of A to Z Sports that it’s a real possibility.

“If Alabama loses Round 1 (of the CFP) and Kalen DeBoer stays, you have to assume it’s Keelon Russell’s job,” the source told Gregson. “Ty has lost the luster that made him a first-round pick, and he would probably return. He would immediately become the top name in the portal.”

This would be quite a turn of events for Simpson and would be somewhat similar to the move Carson Beck made last year, when he transferred from Georgia to Miami.

Of course, the chances of this happening still seem rather slim. This a rather thin quarterback draft class, with only Fernando Mendoza and Dante Moore truly challenging Simpson. Ergo, Simpson could still be a first-round pick in spite of his recent struggles.

Plus, a strong performance in the CFP could — and almost certainly would — completely alter the trajectory of Simpson and would place him back on a track as a top prospect in the eyes of most.

The 22-year-old has thrown for 3,268 yards, 26 touchdowns and five interceptions while completing 64.3 percent of his passes in 2025. Pretty solid numbers.

Simpson definitely has good NFL traits, too. He has a strong arm, and while he has only rushed for 98 yards this year, he is athletic enough to have maneuverability and escapability in the pocket. He can also make plays with his legs.

And while he doesn’t have elite size, he isn’t small, either, standing 6-foot-2 and weighing 208 pounds.

The ability is definitely there for Simpson, so it just seems hard to imagine that he would kick the NFL Draft can down the road and return to school … and transfer in the process.

Simpson surely understands how complicated of a process that would be and how it could actually damage his future in the pros.

The fact that this is a discussion, however, is beyond interesting, especially with Alabama preparing to face Oklahoma in the first round of the CFP this Friday.

Source link

Alabama

INTERCEPT Task Force to open first Alabama location

Published

13 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

INTERCEPT Task Force to open first Alabama location

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (WIAT) — Operation Light Shine is opening its first INTERCEPT Task Force in Alabama in 2026.

Operation Light Shine is a nonprofit that works to end child exploitation and human trafficking across the country. The nonprofit has five INTERCEPT Task Force locations in Tennessee, Florida, Virginia and Maryland.

The Tuscaloosa location is set to open around February, said Cpt. Phil Simpson of the West Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force.

“This is a huge deal for us,” Simpson said. “We’ll be adding people, equipment and capabilities that we don’t currently have.”

The West Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force includes agents from the Northport, Tuscaloosa and the University of Alabama police departments as well as the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office. The task force receives about 30 tips a week ranging from sextortion to child sexual abuse cases.

“It’s a huge growing trend, and it’s to the point where we needed to add processing capabilities that streamline the process of handling each case, so we can take on more cases,” Simpson said.

The partnership between the West Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force and Operation Light Shine will primarily target Tuscaloosa, but the INTERCEPT Task force will have jurisdiction across the state.

“That’s what’s great about the federal partnerships,” said Operation Light Shine Executive Director Bryan Weight. “We’re able to be nimble and go into other counties and areas, arrest as many offenders as we can and give them maximum sentences.”

The fastest growing major crime in the world is online child sexual abuse, according to the nonprofit.

“It’s not what it used to be. It’s not a bad guy in a white van,” Weight said. “Right now, that van is parked inside your home, in your kid’s room, holding it in their hand. It’s your kid’s cellphone.”

One reason is because of social media and that nearly everyone of all ages has an electronic device, Weight said. While some online platforms have online encryptions in place to protect their users, it’s protecting the person who is sexually exploiting children, Weight said.

In 2024, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received over 19 million reports about child sexual abuse material.

“This is an epidemic we’re dealing with,” Weight said.

One reason is because of social media and that nearly everyone of all ages has an electronic device, Weight said. Operation Light Shine’s goal is to give parents and the community the tools they need to properly educate their children, so these crimes do not happen in the first place.

When these crimes happen, law enforcement rely on tips from victims, family, friends and Internet Crimes Against Children. Once a tip or report is made, just like with any crime, officers need enough evidence to obtain a search warrant.

When a warrant is executed, electronics are seized and everything on a device: photos, videos, text messages and the metadata is entered into evidence.

“They can get up to one terabyte, which some people might go ‘Oh, that’s not a lot,’” Weight said. “But if you were to print that, that’s over a 500 million pieces of paper. That’s what we’re seizing every day.”

The time it takes to go through all that information is tedious, Simpson said, and given the nature of these types of cases, it takes a toll on agents.

“That stuff is horrendous, and it stays with them,” Simpson said.

Operation Light Shine has technology that shows investigators when content has already been flagged for CSAM. The West Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force does not have that technology, which means agents must verify it firsthand.

“It will protect our investigators from having to view as much CSAM as they do,” Simpson said. Thus, the INTERCEPT Task force will also play a positive role in “looking at the mental wellbeing of our investigators and their long-term mental health,” Simpson said.

Operation Light Shine obtains the resources, training, and funding to support local law enforcement and set up INTERCEPT Task Forces because of the donations they receive.

Source link

Alabama

Kalen DeBoer Affirms He Will Be Alabama Head Coach Next Season

Published

1 day ago

December 15, 2025

Press Room

Kalen DeBoer Affirms He Will Be Alabama Head Coach Next Season

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama head coach released a statement Sunday trying to squash any rumors of him leaving for the Michigan job, saying he was focused on the Crimson Tide’s first-round playoff matchup with Oklahoma.

During a Monday press conference, DeBoer was asked directly whether or not he plans to be the Alabama head coach next season. He danced around the initial question, basically repeating what he said in the released statement.

“A lot of the same things I said before, you know, a couple weeks ago, when asked, really the same question,” DeBoer said. “Just, you know, feel completely supported. My family loves living here. Just all the things that we continue to build on, love the progress. Haven’t talked with anyone, no plans of talking with anyone. I think that’s a lot of what I said a couple weeks ago and continues to be the same thing. Feel strong about it.”

When asked directly again to clarify, DeBoer said yes. He will be the Alabama coach next season.

DeBoer credited his players for handling distractions well this past week and the entire season. Several players were asked after Friday’s practice about DeBoer’s future with the Crimson Tide.

“It’s been that way all season long,” DeBoer said. “They continue to do that.”

DeBoer is in his second season as the Alabama head coach. Last year, Alabama went 9-4, falling one spot short of the CFP. He was able to help the Crimson Tide rebound from a season-opening loss this season to a first-place regular season finish in the SEC and spot in the CFP.

Prior to Alabama, DeBoer was at Washington for two seasons, leading the Huskies to the CFP title game in 2023. He also has head coaching experience at Fresno State and Sioux Falls (Division II.) His name was immediately linked to the Michigan opening after the Wolverines fired Sherrone Moore for cause.

DeBoer has previous experience in the Big Ten as the offensive coordinator at Indiana in 2019. He is also familiar with the region as a native Midwesterner who played at Sioux Falls and also coached at Eastern Michigan.

For now, DeBoer is fully focused on leading his team in the playoffs. No. 9 Alabama (10-3) will face No. 8 Oklahoma (10-2) in the opening game of the College Football Playoff on Friday at 7 p.m. CT.

Kalen DeBoer head coaching record

Year	School	Record
2005	Sioux Falls Advertisement	9-1
2006	Sioux Falls	10-0
2007 Advertisement	Sioux Falls	10-0
2008	Sioux Falls	10-0 Advertisement
2009	Sioux Falls	10-0
2020	Fresno State Advertisement	3-3
2021	Fresno State	9-3
2022 Advertisement	Washington	11-2
2023	Washington	14-1 Advertisement
2024	Alabama	9-4
2025	Alabama Advertisement	10-3