Alabama enters the 2026 season window with injury setbacks to Lotzeir Brooks and AK Dear

Alabama is set to begin its 2026 season in about three weeks, but the Crimson Tide are already working through at least two injury-related problems that could ripple through camp and the early-season depth chart. According to Yahoo Sports’ report, wide receiver Lotzeir Brooks is expected to miss time in fall camp after an injury issue surfaced ahead of the season opener window, and sophomore running back AK Dear suffered an injury during a scrimmage this past week.

The Brooks development is significant because Alabama’s passing game typically depends on consistent wide receiver availability during camp. When a receiver is expected to miss time before the team turns the corner from fall camp work into game-planning, the coaching staff must adjust reps, routes, and timing for multiple positions at once. Even without specific medical details, the reported expectation that Brooks will be out places pressure on other receivers to absorb additional practice work and on the quarterback room to find reliable rhythm with the receivers who remain on the field.

Dear’s injury in a scrimmage introduces a different but equally practical concern. Running back is a position where continuity matters for both play execution and physical trust, especially as teams evaluate who can handle situational carries. The report describes Dear as having a sophomore status and frames the injury as having taken place during a team scrimmage, which generally carries more live-contact and more evaluation context than individual drills.

Alabama’s staff, under head coach Kalen DeBoer, has built offseason and camp preparation around competitive reps across positions. When injuries occur late in the preparation cycle, it often forces earlier decisions about which players can handle expanded roles right away. In practice terms, that means teams may lean more on the running backs who can stay healthy and protect the quarterback through pass protection assignments, while also changing how the offense measures explosiveness during tempo periods and red-zone packages.

The timeline is also worth tracking. The Yahoo report places the season start approximately three weeks away, and it describes the Brooks injury as expected to cost him time in fall camp. That makes the next few weeks more than a standard camp progression, because any further setbacks would compress the amount of full-team preparation available before the first game plan becomes a weekly reality.

It is important to note what is not contained in the available reporting. The Yahoo Sports item summarizes the existence of injuries and camp expectations, but it does not provide granular information such as the precise injury diagnoses, medical timelines, or confirmed returns to full practice. Without those details, it would be speculative to forecast exact availability dates or to declare who will replace the injured players in the rotation.

For now, the biggest on-field questions for Alabama are straightforward: who absorbs the reps when Brooks is sidelined, and how the backfield rotation functions immediately after Dear’s injury. That combination can affect everything from first-team offensive continuity to how quickly the Crimson Tide can settle into a comfortable early-season rhythm on offense.

As the season opener nears, Alabama’s injury updates will also matter for the broader team-building picture. Even if the team avoids further setbacks, losing camp reps can change the pecking order in receiver and running back evaluations, which can have downstream effects on game-week roles, in-game substitutions, and the confidence level coaches have when the first real pressure situations arrive.