Derrick Henry, Alabama's highly-touted freshman running back, suffered a broken tibia during a scrimmage last Saturday, according to Henry's high school coach, Bobby Ramsay.
"He got tackled and he said his foot got rolled under a defender," Ramsay told AL.com on Tuesday. "It's just one of those things. He was discouraged when I talked to him, but supposedly he was having a breakout day."
If Ramsay's report is correct, the five-star running back is definitely out for the Crimson Tide's A-Day game on Saturday, but Henry's former coach believes the 6-foot-3, 238-pound back can return to the field ahead of schedule.
"I can see a situation with him and the shape he's in and the way he works that, if they say three months, I put it at two to two-and-a-half to when he's really back," Ramsay said. "I told him, 'Man, if you're going to be injured, there's no better place to be hurt. They'll get you back.'"
The Crimson Tide will lean heavily on sophomore running back T.J. Yeldon and backup Kenyan Drake for the spring game this Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Fellow running backs Jalston Fowler and Dee Hart have worn non-contact jerseys throughout spring practice as they recover from injuries.
Last season, Yeldon and former Tide running back Eddie Lacy became the first two players in school history to rush for 1,000 yards in the same season. They're also the first two running backs in the SEC to accomplish that feat since Darren McFadden and Felix Jones each recorded 1,000 yard seasons in 2007 for Arkansas.
Yeldon is expected to be the starter in 2013, but Henry has been raising eyebrows around Tuscaloosa since arriving on campus in January. The Crimson Tide have not hesitated to feature multiple running backs over the last couple years -- Ingram-Richardson, Richardson-Lacy, Lacy-Yeldon -- and Henry has the opportunity to play that secondary role to Yeldon in 2013.
