The Alabama Crimson Tide is moving towards the regular season with just a couple of weeks left before toe meets leather on week one, and there are still some major decisions to be made for the team moving forward.

While much of the attention has been on which quarterback will win the battle between Keelon Russell and Austin Mack, it may not matter much if Alabama does not improve in the running game. During a scrimmage last week, the running back room suffered a little bit of a blow with an expected contributor suffering an injury that could change the outlook of the snap count early in the season.

NEW: Alabama RB AK Dear will miss an extended period of time after suffering an ankle injury, @Charlie_Potter and @PeteNakos report.https://t.co/nhnJPyjZUe pic.twitter.com/RoNLEyNJ9R

— On3 (@On3) August 14, 2026

AK Dear, a former five-star recruit who played in five games last season as a freshman and was expected to have a bigger role this season, suffered an ankle injury that will likely cost him the first month of the season, with a roughly six-week recovery timeline being reported.

The Mississippi native has been getting some first team reps during camp and impressing coaches. While he wasn’t expected to be the lead back, contributions from Dear were going to provide a boost. Should he be able to make it back on the field in a timely fashion, October is a good target return date.

In the meantime, the Alabama backfield will continue to be anchored by Daniel Hill and Kevin Riley, with true freshmen EJ Crowell and Trae’shawn Brown also pushing for carries early on in their careers.