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Alabama head coach Nick Saban tracks the DBs during Alabama's Tuesday football practice, Tuesday, September 17, 2013, at the Thomas-Drew Practice Facility in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The Tide began preparing for Colorado State, the team's home opener. (Vasha Hunt/vhunt@al.com)

-- For Alabama, Colorado State week began with an apology.

It ended with a promise.

Shortly before

Nick Saban

took the stage for his Monday press conference, Alabama officials released a written statement from

T.J. Yeldon

. The sophomore running back apologized for his "selfish actions" after scoring a second-quarter touchdown against Texas A&M. A few days removed from Saban vowing Alabama wouldn't engage in trash talk with the Aggies, the typically mild-mannered Yeldon flashed the "money sign" and made a double throat-slash gesture at Texas A&M fans.

"That is not the way we do things at Alabama," Yeldon wrote. "This is something that I will learn from, and I will use better judgment in the future."

During his Thursday radio show, Saban took a routine question about the Rams and turned it into a monologue about the lack of discipline this year's team has shown through the first two games. Yeldon's actions in particular were clearly on Saban's mind as his voice elevated.

"We have not shown the discipline as a team that our teams of the past have shown," Saban said. "I tell the players we're not getting into

Johnny Manziel

stuff. Guy scores his touchdown, does his deal. My point is is, 'OK, you know what the rules are and you consciously make your mind up premeditated. That wasn't spontaneous. That got decided to do that before it ever happened. I'm going to do this even though I was told I can't do it.'"

Finished discussing Yeldon's transgression, Saban shifted to a big-picture perspective. This was the promise.

"We're only going to play with guys that are going to do what they're supposed to, when they're supposed to do it, the way it's supposed to get done," Saban said. "They're going to do it all the time. I know that's the only way we can have the kind of team we're capable of having.

"There's going to be some hard lessons learned around here if guys don't shape up."

that Yeldon would be suspended for the first quarter of Saturday's game against the Rams. An Alabama spokesman could not confirm the report, which cited an anonymous source.

Yeldon's penalty was one of 12 committed by Alabama in its 49-42 win against Texas A&M. It was the largest amount since 2007, when the Crimson Tide had 14 in a loss to LSU.

What bothered Saban the most was that most of the penalties spawned from what he considered to be a lack of discipline. Alabama had five false starts, two personal fouls -- one being a targeting foul that was ultimately overturned but still gave the Aggies 15 yards and a first down -- an illegal shift, and Yeldon's unsportsmanlike conduct.

Yeldon was singled out for his mistake, but Saban said it served as an improper representation of Alabama's team as a whole.

"It goes back to the same thing. Everybody wants to do what they want to do instead of what they need to do to be successful," Saban said. "The problem with that deal, it characterizes the whole team, the whole organization, the whole program. That is not going to happen. That's not going to happen.

"That doesn't make any difference if a guy decides to get drunk and miss curfew. We've had a guy do that, too. Same thing. I know what the rule is, I know what I'm supposed to do, but the heck with it, I'm going to do what I want to do."

Since the middle of August, Saban has suspended two starters (linebacker

Trey DePriest

and defensive back

Geno Smith

) and withheld another from making a road trip (running back

Kenyan Drake

). Sparsely used tight end

Malcolm Faciane

served a 30-day suspension that kept him out for part of preseason camp.

Saban's discipline-related promise went hand in hand with his opening statement Wednesday, when he said "we need more players to be responsible." Saban centered that message on the Crimson Tide's younger players, but added that a handful of veterans needed to be "more consistent" as well.

Though it's a 40-point favorite against the over-matched Rams, Alabama can still make improvement, Saban said, and there's plenty of room for it.

"We have consequences for good and bad behavior all the time," Saban said. There’s consequences for being a good leader, there’s consequences for being a bad leader. There’s consequences for every behavior, and it’s not just what happens right now, it lives with you, it’s part of your permanent record. You make an F in a class, they don’t erase it. Anyone who looks at your transcript knows that you made an F in a class.

"We don’t want those kinds of consequences for our players, but they have to know that they have to pay the price for success up front in terms of putting the work every day so that we can improve as a team and we can continue to improve as a team."