For all the agita caused by Alabama’s kicking game, the sight Saturday afternoon was a new one.

Not a missed kick but spotting freshman kicker Will Reichard leaving the injury tent and slowly walking to the locker room was a new one for the Crimson Tide faithful. Through four games, the rookie from Hoover showed promise of ending the generation-long struggle kickers have had in Tuscaloosa.

Diagnosed with a hip flexor injury, questions about Reichard’s availability moving forward were natural. Kicking injuries aren’t all that common compared to the contact-heavy position on a football field.

So, AL.com spoke with one of Reichard’s kicking coaches and an orthopedist to help explain the severity of a hip flexor injury and how it relates to the game.

After the game Saturday, Nick Saban said the injury occurred when Reichard kicked the tee on his third kickoff of the game.

It’s important to note the difference from the plastic tees of the past that looked more like a pedestal and the kind of tee kickers use now. The Ground Zero tee looks like a block of black rubber.

“It is extremely heavy and doesn’t move,” said Birmingham kicking coach Mike McCabe, who has worked with Reichard since he was in elementary school.

“That’s a lot of force coming through that just stops your leg real fast,” McCabe said. “That can cause some bruising or swelling.”

McCabe said Reichard’s brief comment to him indicated it “felt like he pulled something.”

A Facebook post by Reichard’s mom from earlier in the week stated the kicker felt and heard a pop after the kick. An MRI revealed a slight tear in the hip flexor tendon that should be fine after a few weeks of rest, she stated in a since-deleted post.

That would fit with what Saban said Monday when asked about Reichard’s status.

“I don’t think this is something with a kicker that you can sort of push the guy along and have him have something that’s going to aggravate him for the rest of the season,” Saban said “So we need to get it right now.”

Dr. Michael Ellerbusch of Southlake Orthopedics in Hoover explained the rehab process for this kind of injury. They call it “relative rest” with some non-painful rehab that includes stretching and modalities like ultrasound and electrical stimulation.

Recovery time can vary but it normally takes a few weeks.

“You can reinjure it if you come back too early,” Ellerbusch said. “What we would do once he had no pain to walk, full strength, full motion of the hip without pain, then he would start a return-to-play program that would typically involve things like jogging, then do some sprinting and doing some drills and then he would progress back to the kicking component of it.”

From a kicking standpoint, McCabe said Reichard is smart with the way he handles the health side of the game. He doesn’t over-kick in practice, though wear and tear is part of the game.

Looking forward, McCabe sees big things for Alabama’s young kicker.

“Me worried about Will Reichard?” he said. “Nah. He’ll do great things at Alabama.”

Reichard is 4-for-7 on field goals including well-struck makes from 48 and 49 yards against New Mexico State. He also has touchbacks on 22 of the 29 kickoffs, though he missed one of his 22 extra point attempts. Joseph Bulovas, the starter for most of last season, stepped in as the replacement while Skylar DeLong handled all of the punting duties they shared.

And when Reichard is back on the field, Dr. Ellerbusch noted work remains to remain healthy.

“Once it is healed, you want to stay on top of it,” Ellerbusch said. “So, he would be on some kind of a long term stretching and strengthening program to try to prevent re-injury because there would be a slight increased risk of re-injury.”

Michael Casagrande is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.