TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- After Alabama's first practice of fall camp, head coach Nick Saban revealed how defensive end Da'Shawn Hand will be disciplined after a DUI arrest.

"First of all, we have every respect for the police and what they did, so in no way are my comments directed at anything but total respect for those people doing their job," Saban said Thursday. "Da'Shawn put himself in a bad situation. Obviously he made a mistake being where he was at the time. But the fact that he didn’t drive the car, aight, which is what we tell the players not to do. It's not OK that he was drinking, with me, and that's a behavioral issue that needs to be addressed and we will address it.

"But the fact that he didn’t drive the car and wasn't driving the car, he did not put other people at risk, which to me is the most significant thing when you drive under the influence. But he didn't drive. But they have every right to do what they did.

"... I have two choices. I can punish the guy for putting himself in a bad situation, aight, but making a pretty good decision after he put himself in that situation. Or we can take the situation that he put himself in, which is drinking, aight, and have him assessed for that and try to help him so he can make better choices and decisions in the future.

"Whether than worry about the punishment part of it, we put him 48-hour in-patient for assessment purposes. Professional people assess what he needs to do, what we need to do with him and that's what we will do with him. Because he put himself in that situation, we'll give him community service and a police ride around and some different things to help him.

"And if he does everything he's supposed to do, he will not be suspended."

Hand participated in Alabama's first practice of fall camp Thursday afternoon as one of the first three players through individual drills with position coach Karl Dunbar.

The senior defensive lineman was arrested five days ago in Tuscaloosa for driving under the influence. But further details revealed he was asleep in his parked car and was not driving at the time of his arrest, according to a report from The Tuscaloosa News.

Hand was found in the driver's seat of a parked car with the headlights on and the vehicle cranked in a parking lot near Alabama's campus, according to The Tuscaloosa News' report.

Alabama state law deemed Hand to be in "constructive possession" of the vehicle. And although he wasn't driving and the vehicle was parked, the keys being in the car was what triggered the arrest and resulted in the charges of driving under the influence.

The arresting officer discovered Hand asleep in his car at 4:30 a.m. CT on Saturday at the 1100 block of University Blvd. It's worth nothing that bars in Tuscaloosa close at 2 a.m.

A pre-trial hearing is set for Sept. 18 in Tuscaloosa Municipal Court.

A preseason All-SEC first-team selection, Hand registered 21 tackles and two sacks as a reserve a season ago. Now entering his final year in Tuscaloosa, the former five-star recruit will likely step into the Crimson Tide's starting lineup at the defensive end position.

"It happened but you gotta bounce back from it," senior linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton said Thursday. "Da'Shawn is a really good guy, a good friend of mine. He'll bounce back."

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