TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama won’t be taking the field today.

The top-ranked Crimson Tide is off this weekend as part of its first of two bye weeks. The team will play again Saturday, Oct. 12, when it travels to College Station, Texas, to take on No. 25 Texas A&M. It will play two more games -- against Tennessee and Arkansas -- and will have another open date Saturday, Nov. 2, before hosting No. 5 LSU on Nov. 9 at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

But with no game to play, how will Nick Saban and his staff spend their Saturdays?

“Saturday and Sunday, we’ll give our players off,” Saban said. “Coaches will be off on Saturday. A lot of the coaches will go recruiting (Friday), so we’ll go try to see a lot of prospects play. And we’re going to practice what we call a coordinators practice, which is kind of a light practice with just the coordinators and the special teams coach and myself so that some guys can go out recruiting.

“But Saturday will be basically an off day, but it won’t be totally off. I’ll probably watch some recruits, I’ll probably watch some more upcoming opponent. I’ve got a bunch of stuff that I’ve been putting off signing, so I’ll have to sign a bunch of stuff. So, it’s kind of catch-up day for me, so I can’t really say it’s a day off.”

And what about Alabama’s players? Several of them shared their plans this past week.

Senior DB Shyheim Carter

“I’m going to be with my kids on Saturday. Probably doing something fun at Chuck E. Cheese or something. My kids come to the games, but it is nothing like having that whole day to be able to spend time with your kids. So, that’s what my bye week consists of.”

Senior DB Jared Mayden

“I’ll probably watch a game or two. I got a couple friends that play at a couple different places. But for the most part, sitting down on the couch and chilling.”

Junior DB Xavier McKinney

“Really just chill and kind of just sit back and relax, get my body right. Just kind of relax, for real. I play the game (NBA2K) a lot, watch TV and that’s pretty much it. I just kind of chill.”

Junior RB Brian Robinson

“The off week probably couldn’t have come at a better time. Really just for me, just recovering, getting my legs back under me and just still trying to work on my game, and fix all the little details in my game that I need to go into next week versus Texas A&M. So, I’m pretty much just focused on the game next week and preparing for the game next week now.”

Junior WR DeVonta Smith

“Watch football, sit in the house. Most of the time, it’s just sitting in the house, playing the game, for real. A lot of us like to play Madden, 2K. Just sit in the house, playing games, watching football.”

Alabama will return to the practice field on Monday, Oct. 7. Prior to practice, Saban and select players will be made available to local reporters at the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility at noon.

Contact Charlie Potter by 247Sports' personal messaging or on Twitter (@Charlie_Potter).