After Alphonse Taylor served his one game suspension during Alabama's week one drubbing of USC most thought he would be right back in the starting lineup week two. The preseason second-team All-SEC interior offensive lineman was suspended in relation to a July arrest, a charge he has been found not-guilty of, however Nick Saban isn't guaranteeing anything to Taylor, in fact the Bama coach is sending the opposite message.
Videos by FanBuzz
"He's got to kind of earn his way back, and that may take some time."
"There was a little inconsistency there in hand placement, steps, playing with power on a consistent basis," Saban said of the interior offensive linemen — sophomore left guard Lester Cotton, redshirt junior center Bradley Bozeman and redshirt sophomore right guard Ross Pierschbacher. "But there were also some very encouraging things that these guys did. ... Shank (Taylor) coming back at right guard, where he played before, he's a powerful guy. He's a big guy. That might be helpful to us. He's got to play his way back into it. He's got to beat somebody out now."
Taylor is too talented not to earn his way back into the starting role, but for now it seems the Tide staff is comfortable going forward with him on the bench until he shows them he is ready to be a starter and leader once again for Alabama.
