There are a lot of things to take on a family outing. When the Diggs family goes for a cookout, Trevon Diggs and his brother, Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs, pack more than the charcoal and hotdogs.

“We always have our cleats with each other,” Alabama junior cornerback Trevon Diggs said. “I always keep cleats in my car, my backpack, everywhere.”

After all, you never know when a football practice session might break out.

“We’re real competitive,” Trevon said. And when the talk begins at a family event, it leads to action.

“We would do one-on-ones,” Diggs said. “We always try to get as much work as possible. I rarely see him, so when I do I always try to work with him.”

“He is really hard-working, so he always plans to work wherever he’s at.

“And I feel like that helped me because when I see him do that, it makes me want to work hard too.”

Stefon’s hard work paid off in last year’s Minnesota playoff game against New Orleans when he caught a pass, avoided a poor effort by a Saints defensive back, and scored the winning touchdown in the final second.

Trevon was there to watch his brother’s big play. “I was excited for him. I thought they were going to lose and he did that. He was pretty excited. I have never seen him cry before. That made him cry.”

That play has been preserved and replayed many times on television.

What hasn’t been preserved is any of the one-on-one sessions between Trevon and Stephon when younger brother got the best of the match.

“When we do one-on-ones, we always record it,” Trevon said. “But if I get him, he’ll take my phone and delete it. So I don’t get a chance to post anything.”

And, Trevon admitted, “Stefon gets a couple on me.”

Trevon Diggs has been prominent on special teams

Trevon isn’t going against NFL receivers in his work on the Alabama practice fields, but there are some who likely will be there one day. And that will be the case in the 2018 season.

Diggs came to Alabama in 2016 and was put with the Alabama receiving corps, where he came up with 11 catches for 88 yards. He also spent some time on defense as a freshman, and has played on special teams the past two years, both in coverage (he caused a fumble against Florida in the 2016 Southeastern Conference Championship Game) and as a return man.

He has returned nine kickoffs for a 26.7 average (long of 55) and 31 punts for a 9.2 average (long of 47).

He was moved to defense last season and started the season-opener against Florida State, but gave way to Levi Wallace as the starter and was back-up the rest of the year.

With Alabama’s starting secondary wiped out by graduation and early defections to the NFL, Diggs is back at cornerback this spring.

He and his teammates will be on display at 1 p.m. CDT Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium in the A-Day Game (televised by ESPN).

Diggs said spring practice “has been great. We’ve all been competing with each other, getting after it. Everyone has been getting more comfortable. I feel more comfortable in the defense now that I played last season. I know a lot more after following the older guys. It was beneficial and that helped me a lot. I'm looking forward to next season.”

He said that Coach Nick Saban (who works with the cornerbacks in practice) has given him a point of emphasis this spring. “Coach says if you look at the quarterback, you’re just going to watch him complete a pass,” Diggs said. “I try not to look at the quarterback at all. Last season I had to fight that a lot.”

Deionte Thompson, Alabama’s most experienced defensive back with two starts at safety, said, “"Just over the course of spring, he's been doing a very good job. He comes out and communicates. He makes plays, and he's done a good job. I'm very proud of what he's done this spring."

Diggs said he’s looking forward to being on the winning team “so I don’t have to eat pork and beans.” The A-Day tradition is that the winning team eats steak and the losers “beans and weenies.”

If the worst happens and he needs to make a quick exit, he’ll likely have his cleats with him.”