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Alabama quarterback Mac Jones and Carolina Panthers coach Matt Rhule are unsure whether Crimson Tide signal caller will be able to play in Reese’s Senior Bowl on Saturday after that he failed to train on Thursday.
After training at Mobile’s Hancock Whitney Stadium, Jones told reporters he “rolled my ankle a bit. At first I was a little worried about my right leg, and now my left leg is a bit injured.
Jones didn’t rule out playing in Saturday’s All-Star Game, however.
“There is a chance,” Jones said. “I just have to see how I feel. For example, I’m not going to go if I’m not 100%. It’s not fair for my teammates not to be 100% and try to play and not play well, so I’m going to make the decision. But I hope I can get treatment and see how I feel.
Rhule, who leads the US team with his coaching staff from Carolina, said he didn’t “have a great idea” of what happened to Jones.
“He was gone for a while there, started limping at the end,” Rhule said, “so I just said, ‘Hey, why don’t you go see the coach?’ The last thing I want to do is see the kid get fucked hard. He was having a hard time. I thought he had a good day, he just needed to heal himself.…
“I don’t know if it’s something from the national championship game or what. I don’t think this is something that happened here, but I could be wrong. Kevin (King) our coach takes care of our training, let me know he was a bit limited. I thought he was gone as long as he could, so I’ll wait and see what Kevin says about the game.
The US team has two other quarterbacks – Kellen Mond of Texas A&M and Jamie Newman of Wake Forest. Newman joined Georgia as a graduate transfer last year, but he never played for the Bulldogs.
Rhule said he didn’t know which quarterback would start the game if Jones didn’t play.
“I haven’t spoken to the coaches yet,” Rhule said after Thursday practice. “Even in all positions, I just asked the coaches to keep shooting who’s playing just so they all have an idea. But how do we do this again, we’ll meet tonight and tomorrow and sort of go over all these things. We’ve had a bunch of guys getting fucked hard so we’ll see who’s available for the game and play these guys.
As Senior Bowl practices are dissected by NFL general managers and scouts, Rhule said Saturday’s game was also an important assessment tool.
“I think there are a lot of players who are really good at drills, really good at practices,” Rhule said. “In practice, everything is scripted. Sometimes you can check out the script, see what’s next and process it, I think. We did a two minute drill today and it’s as close as you can get to reacting in the game, so I think for all players to play in the game is vital. …
“For me, I like to see as much as I can of everyone and what they’re doing when the balls are flying and the game is real.”
Rhule liked what he saw of Jones this week.
“I was really impressed with who he is,” Rhule said. “I was impressed by his character, his moxie, his booty. I mean, he has it all. You can see why his teammates are following him. He has a great connection with others. He’s been a really productive quarterback, and I think he’s shown a lot of things he can do this week. He’s really smart. It is precise. He can move his feet. It can slip into the pocket. For me, by getting to know him, I can see why everyone is raving about him and why he has had the success that he has had.
The 72nd Annual Senior Bowl kicks off at 1:30 p.m. CST Saturday at Hancock Whitney Stadium on the South Alabama campus. NFL Network will broadcast the game.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at Ark AMarkG1.
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