TUSCALOOSA, Alabama - On another broiling, humid afternoon, the Alabama football team is in shorts and shoulder pads for the second consecutive day as preseason practice continues. This is Day 4 of fall camp. Full pads come out Tuesday. The hitting begins. The

real

hitting, that is. As if there hasn't been any contact yet.

News of the day



Wide receivers

Duron Carter

and

Danny Woodson

still are nowhere to be seen. Last week, we reported that Carter's arrival was delayed because of an issue with his transcript from Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College. Stay tuned. The former Ohio State Buckeye is the 6-foot-4, 210-pound son of former NFL great

Cris Carter

. Alabama needs receivers to replace departed star

Julio Jones

, especially because senior starter

Darius Hanks

must sit out the first two games because he played in one game as a freshman before he was redshirted. Woodson might be on hold as Carter's eligibility is determined. Last Friday, Alabama coach Nick Saban said Woodson could be in camp later depending on "other situations." But the 6-foot-1, 205-pound true freshman from LeFlore High School in Mobile is nowhere to be seen so far.

What's hot



Alabama's starting offensive line right now is no mystery.

Barrett Jones

still is working at left tackle. That means

Anthony Steen

is working at right guard, where Jones has started the past two seasons. The other three are returning starters: center

William Vlachos

, left guard

Chance Warmack

and right tackle

D.J. Fluker

. But who are the backups? Perhaps we shouldn't reach too much into this, but early in today's practice the group taking reps next behind the first-team line featured freshman

Cyrus Kouandjio

at left tackle, senior

Alfred McCullough

at left guard, sophomore

Kellen Williams

at center, senior

John Michael Boswell

at right guard and redshirt freshman

Austin Shepherd

at right tackle. Perhaps what it would take to move Jones back to right guard would be the rapid development of Kouandjio.

The grind



Some players already are playing through some aches and pains. Junior inside linebacker

Dont'a Hightower

seemed to injure his left hand or wrist in Sunday's practice at Bryant-Denny Stadium, and during early drills today, he paused to get some extra tape wrapped around the sore area. Junior running back

Trent Richardson

continues to press on despite a left leg that still is wrapped. Backup running back

Eddie Lacy

and redshirt freshman tight end

Brian Vogler

were not in the back jerseys that they wore Sunday.

On the mend



Redshirt freshman

Arie Kouandjio

was not on the field during the early periods. He was carted off the field during practice Sunday, but after practice, with ice packs on both knees, he walked slowly onto the field to sign autographs at Fan Day. What might have been a hyperextended knee did not appear to be serious. It would not have been surprising if Cyrus' older brother was receiving treatment when practice started but joined his teammates later.

What's next?



Hitting. Full pads -- and full contact -- begins Tuesday. Teams must practice the first two days of fall camp in shorts and no shoulder pads. Then they can practice with shorts and shoulder pads for two days. After one day in full pads, teams can begin two-a-day practices. Alabama will hold four sessions of two-a-days, beginning Wednesday.