TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama’s pass rushers stood out in Saturday’s first spring scrimmage.

And rising sophomore Christopher Allen was the most productive defensive player, according to an older teammate. Linebacker Terrell Lewis said Allen led the team in production points.

“Chris did really well,” Lewis said Monday. “... He did really well just getting a good feel for things and knowing when to do stuff and when not to do stuff. He did really well with not making too many mental errors, just getting a good feel for the game and finishing plays.”

Allen is expected to, at the very least, provide quality depth at outside linebacker this fall.

As a true freshman in 2017, the Baton Rouge, La., native saw time in seven games and totaled six tackles, one tackle for loss, two quarterback hurries and one forced fumble in an increased role because of the injuries the Crimson Tide suffered at outside linebacker.

And he almost recorded another recovery and production point in Saturday’s scrimmage.

Despite an injury to his throwing hand, rising sophomore quarterback Tua Tagovailoa beat Allen to a fumble on the turf. Shaking his hand after the play, Nick Saban said a popular phrase in live practice situations, per Lewis. “Stay off our quarterbacks. We’re limited.”

But slowing up from pressuring the quarterback isn’t always easy for the pass rushers.

Alabama LB Christopher Allen

One rising redshirt freshman signal caller now knows from experience.

“Mac Jones took a couple bangs,” Lewis said with a chuckle. “There was one play he got hit by like three people. One person hit him and banged into the other person.

“It was like a pinball machine or something.”

For a defense that saw its pass rush take a dip a year ago, increasing its presence in opposing backfield is a top priority this offseason. With players like Lewis, Allen, Christian Miller, Anfernee Jennings and others back at outside linebacker, that should help that cause. Despite Miller going down, Lewis said, the competition was intense Saturday.

All for more production points.

“I know our group, we’re real conscious of that,” Lewis said. “We want to produce, want to lead the team in production, be the leaders. A lot of guys look at that. I know when we get back from the scrimmage and look at the meetings the first thing we look at is, ‘OK, how many production points did I get? What did I do wrong; mental errors?’ Stuff like that.”

But outside of Allen leading the team in points, how did the rest of the linebackers perform?

“We looked really good,” Lewis said. “We had a lot of situations where we got off the field -- played the run, played the pass and converted from run to pass situations really quickly.

“So, we looked good.”

Alabama will practice three times this week, including Monday’s afternoon session, before its second of two close spring scrimmages this weekend at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Although he could have had even more production, Lewis and the Tide edge rushers will look to build on their strong performance when they have another shot at the quarterbacks.

“He did a lot stuff, just paid attention to detail,” Lewis said of Allen. “We have certain calls where you’ll do certain techniques like rise and stuff like that and go straight to the quarterback since he’s a quarterback player and stuff. He executed those and did it in the right situations. It just played out for him.”

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