Most of the last week of Alabama football was consumed by the hip dislocation suffered by Tua Tagovailoa and for good reason. He’s a generational talent who suffered a rare and serious injury.

Lost in those headlines is the situation facing the Crimson Tide in the final two weeks of the regular season. Moments after Tagovailoa went down, a still-stunned stadium saw Alabama defensive lineman Raekwon Davis helped off the field with a sprained ankle.

He was one of three on the defensive front who are very questionable for Saturday's visit from Western Carolina and just a week after that to recover for the Iron Bowl. D.J. Dale and Phidarian Mathis, both players used heavily in the rotation, also left the Mississippi State game and aren't likely to play Saturday.

That only makes a young defensive line even more green.

True freshmen Byron Young, Justin Eboigbe, Christian Barmore and senior Tevita Musika all figure to have larger role against Western Carolina.

Nick Saban noted Young and Eboigbe have played all season with increased roles after LaBryan Ray went down after the South Carolina game.

Seven scholarship defensive linemen remain after the injuries and five-star freshman Antonio Alfano's early-season transfer.

"We will actually have to play a couple guys in this game that has not played," Saban said, "but they have games left, so this would not negate the opportunity that they could still be redshirted if they ended up playing in this game."

Two freshmen fall into that category and they were both four-star signees last year. Ishmael Sopsher was once ranked among the top five recruits in the class but hasn't appeared in a game this season. Braylen Ingraham, the No. 10 defensive end in the class played once against Ole Miss and made one tackle.

“Well, we’ll see. We’ll see how they’re playing," Saban said. "They’re all getting an opportunity to play this week and they’re getting a lot of reps in practice. I’m not disappointed. Their effort has been good. They’re trying to learn."

Both Sopsher and Ingraham spent time on the scout team this fall.

And that's not necessarily the worst thing, Saban said.

"Sometimes you develop more on the scout team than you do when you’re a backup player who doesn’t get as many reps because you’re going against good competition every day," Saban said. "But we’re going to have a few of those guys who are going to have to fill in in this game, and this will be a good opportunity for them.

"And I’m kind of anxious to see how they respond, to be honest with you.”

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