Alabama safety Deionte Thompson suffered a knee injury during the Crimson Tide's practice on Tuesday, but there's early optimism that the injury isn't serious and that it may just be a bad bruise, AL.com has learned.

The redshirt sophomore will undergo an MRI to determine the full extent of the injury.

Thompson being out would be even more of an issue for the Tide because of Alabama having just lost starting safety Hootie Jones to a season-ending knee injury against Auburn.

It appears likely that, as long as he's healthy, Thompson will step into that starting safety spot previously occupied by Jones.

If he's out, Alabama would likely need to turn to a younger player like freshman Xavier McKinney.

Thompson has played in all 12 games and has posted 18 tackles and an interception while contributing on special teams and in spot duty on defense.

Matt Zenitz is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mzenitz.