ALABAMA FOOTBALL[PARA]TUSCALOOSA -- There wasn't the tackling Mike Shula promised, but his team finished Saturday's practice with some 11-on-11 work that drew praise from the Alabama football coach.[PARA]The Crimson Tide practiced for the second day under the watchful eye of high school coaches on hand for the school's annual coaching clinic. Shula said the added attention seemed to generate a higher level of concentration in the final moments of the fifth practice of the spring.[PARA]"The guys got a little excited with more people," he said. "Toward the end of practice, we actually settled into a nice little rhythm and got some things done. Early, a lot of the guys playing new positions struggled but then we settled down and did some good things."[PARA]On Friday, Shula promised 20 minutes of 11-on-11 work with the final 10 minutes including live tackling, but on Saturday there was no tackling in the final drills.[PARA]"We wanted to ease our way into it," he said. "We're obviously going to be a lot more into it from here on out. It's just one more step toward making it like a Saturday."[PARA]The final 24 plays of Saturday's practice featured quarterbacks Marc Guillon and Mike Machen splitting eight possessions equally. First-team quarterback Brodie Croyle sat out practice for the second consecutive day and backup Spencer Pennington participated until the practice involved 11-on-11 work.[PARA]"They were a little wild early," Shula said of Guillon and Machen, "but they settled down later."[PARA]Shula said he held Pennington, who is recovering from off-season surgery to his throwing shoulder, out of live action as a precautionary measure.[PARA]"That position is so hard without the physical repetition," Shula said, "seeing the speed of the game and how things are going to unfold. But we have to be smart with both of those guys."[PARA]Croyle sat out of practice for the second consecutive day after experiencing some soreness in his shoulder following off-season surgery.[PARA]"No sense if it's sore to rush it," Shula noted. "And he had a lot of work this week."[PARA]Saturday's workout featured 11 passes in the 24-play session and one turnover when backup center Taylor Britt snapped the ball past Guillon in shotgun formation. The ball was covered by defensive end Wallace Gilberry.[PARA]Guillon was 6-of-9 passing in 12 plays, while Machen was 5-of-7. Most of the passes were short passes to running backs or receivers swinging out of the backfield.[PARA]Shula said the receivers played "a little bit better" and that if he had to pick starters, "it would be Tyrone Prothro and Matt Caddell. Matt had a better day today. He's spent a couple of days in pads so he's a little more comfortable with what he's doing. We still have to find more guys to go to our three- and four-receiver sets."[PARA]The 11-on-11 work was preceded by nine-on-nine drills while the receivers and cornerbacks participated separately from the team.[PARA]The "inside run" drills, as Shula calls them, gave the first-team offensive line of tackles Kyle Tatum and Chris Capps, guards Danny Martz and Evan Mathis and center J.B. Closner and the backup unit of tackles Mark Sanders and Von Ewing, guards Justin Moon and Dawson Brown and Taylor Britt at center a chance to work together.[PARA]"When you watch drills and it's a run drill -- everybody knows it's run because there's no receivers -- you can compare them in that," Shula said. "That's where it all comes together, with the double-teams on the linebacker, when you see more of the team work."[PARA]Defensively, Shula praised the performance of linemen Jeremy Clark and Mark Anderson and middle linebackers Freddie Roach and Cornelius Wortham. He said it "too early to tell" in gauging the battle between Thurman Ward and Carlos Andrews for the strong safety position.[PARA]Alabama resumes practice on Tuesday in preparation for its annual A-Day game on March 20.
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