TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— The media got its first look of the fall at the Alabama Crimson Tide Thursday morning as Kalen DeBoer enters his third season. It was Alabama's second practice overall of fall camp, and the team practiced outdoors on the Thomas Drew Practice Fields in shorts and helmets on a sunny, muggy day in Tuscaloosa with temperatures in the high 80s. The viewing period for media only lasted about 15 minutes, but here are BamaCentral's observations from Thursday morning practice:Practice notes- Aug. 6, 2026DeBoer bounces around to different position groups at practice, but he usually is with the offense and quarterbacks. At the beginning of the media period on Thursday, he was in the middle of the defense. Freshman running back EJ Crowell was back practicing with the team after missing the spring. He generally was at the back of the line for the running back drills as he works his way back.Sixth-year Jah-Marien Latham was also back on the practice fields after dealing with a neck injury last season. He was moving well and seems to have made the full transition to being a Wolf/edge rusher. Latham and junior Yhonzae Pierre appear to be the undisputed leaders of that position group.As the competition continues at quarterback between senior Austin Mack and sophomore Keelon Russell rotated who went first in drills, at least during the media viewing period. It feels like football season in Tuscaloosa with the first song playing once the media entered the field was ACDC's "Thunderstruck."Alabama's wide receiver groups is pretty thin with Noah Rogers out for most of the fall. During one drill, the wide receivers worked on one catching the ball while one other practiced blocking ahead of the pass-catcher out in space.The quarterbacks worked on a dill with blocking dummies pushed in their face as they threw to simulate pressure in the pocket. Later, they worked on throwing different routes to wide receivers, tight ends and running backs.From left to right, the starting offensive line early in fall camp appeared to be Jackson LLoyd, Mal Waldrep Jr., Racin Delgatty, Michael Carroll and Jayvin James.The right tackle battle looks like a true competition as it looked like James and Nick Brooks each took turns going first in drills.The first portion of practice had all the offensive linemen working on chopping their feet off the line and exploding through contact, simulating driving a man off the line of scrimmage. The second portion split the interior OL and the tackles. The guards and centers worked on relationship and firing off the football, while the tackles and tight ends worked on double teams and climbing to the second level under the watchful eye of new tight ends coach Richard Owens. Adrian Klemm stayed with the interior linemen.The defensive line moved in front of me late and I was very impressed by the size of freshman Mhari Johnson a Corey Howard. Jeremiah Beaman led the group through drills with Devan Thompkins and Terrance Green coming up next, but Howard was fourth in line behind the first trio. Steve Bolo Mboumoua still looks very big, and I think he might emerge as an important defender this season. Freshman Nolan Wilson brought up the rear in the group but got coached hard for having poor positioning with his feet as he struck the blocking dummy. Even though it was only the second practice of camp, the position coaches were not taking it easy on their guys and some seemed to have a pretty short temper for guys not following the instructions for the drill. Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Twitter/X, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Threads and Blue Sky for the latest news.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow