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Alabama running back Kenyan Drake (17) breaks free for a TD during the first quarter of the No. 2 Alabama vs Florida Atlantic football game, Saturday, September 6, 2014, at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Vasha Hunt/vhunt@al.com)

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- A young child asked Nick Saban on Thursday about his favorite player, injured running back Kenyan Drake.

The Alabama coach may have given him much more of a detailed update than he ever envisioned, but it provided the clearest picture yet of Drake's path back to the field after breaking his leg last week at Ole Miss.

"This is not a really uncommon football injury," Saban said during his Thursday radio show. "He will not have any significant future issues or problems.

"This is something he'll recover from."

Saban, who went into great detail about the surgery Drake underwent, said Drake was in his office Thursday and appeared to be in good spirits. His rehabilitation has already begun, and he's anticipated to be "walking, jogging, doing some things" in six weeks. In eight to 10 weeks, he'll be "going full speed again."

Perhaps Saban was simply reading the room, but his prognosis seemed much rosier than it did Monday, when he said it would be eight to 10 weeks before Drake "could even think about playing football again."

"Kenyan's doing really, really well," Saban said. "I think he's got a really positive attitude about it. he said he's taking it one day at a time. He's working his rehab and doing really well."