Nick Saban talks Alabama standard, Trey Sanders, Agiye Hall

Alabama will return home Saturday to face Southern Miss, its third non-conference game of the season before a stretch of SEC games beginning Oct. 2 with Ole Miss.

Nick Saban spoke to reporters Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. CT after the Tide’s third practice of the week.

Here were the live updates, which included a few testy moments from the coach:

-- Saban said Alabama is trying to “identify exactly what our passion is, what our spirit is.” He said there are players on the team with great character but passion is your “sense of purpose.”

-- Saban said they have a lot of respect for Southern Miss and they’re highly-ranked defensively. “This is a very good team,” he continued. He said they’re athletic offensively and their quarterback is a freshman but a good athlete.

-- Saban: “We need to play to our standard. We need to do the things that we do well.”

-- Saban said he would like to see his fans have passion, enthusiasm and energy and that would be helpful to the team.

-- Saban said they had a “pretty good” week of practice and players were focused in practice Wednesday.

-- Asked if Trey Sanders was available Saturday against Florida, Saban said he is OK and there was “no plan to play him or not to play him, that’s just the way the game worked out.” Saban was irritated with the question, saying, “B-Rob played really well in the game and Jase [McClellan] played really well in the game. So it’s not like I sit there and say everybody’s gonna play this many plays. When it comes to the running backs, whoever is playing well and has the hot hand, that’s who we’re gonna play. That’s how it always been around here.”

-- Saban did say Brian Robinson is “day-to-day” with his rib injury suffered in the game.

-- Saban said Will Anderson showed a “warrior mentality” playing in Saturday’s game through a knee injury. Saban added that professional players think they will play no matter what because they don’t want someone else to take their job. College players do not always have that mentality, but they have a chance to show they’re a warrior when they play at less than 100 percent health. “That creates tremendous value to me for any player who can do that,” Saban said.

-- More Saban on Anderson: “I don’t see him being a work in progress at all. I see him being one of the guys on our team who plays to the standard we want guys to play to. And he does it all the time, and he does it on a consistent basis. He sets a great example for every other player who wants to be successful. Why don’t they play like that? Why don’t they do that? I think he’s got some leadership qualities that are going to grow and develop as we go through this season and into the future.” Anderson was one of the coaches’ players of the week against Florida.

-- Saban said Jahleel Billingsley, who played and scored a touchdown against Florida, is “doing what he’s supposed to do.” Saban was irritated at the question about why Billingsley has seen his role increase, asking, “Did any of you play sports? The coach is supposed to play the best players, right? And then it’s up to the players to do what they’re supposed to do to get to play.”

-- Saban said they would like to see Agiye Hall become a part of the offense because he has a lot of talent and ability, but there needs to be more consistency in performance on and off the field. “We try to get our guys to understand that that dependability is really important in their life for them to be successful, as well as in school to be successful, as well as in football to be successful.” Saban added Hall has been getting “better and better” and “hopefully he’ll be contributing sometime soon.”

-- Saban said the “Alabama standard” means what we’ve seen the past 15 years from the program. “They don’t win the game, they beat the other team,” he said. “There’s a difference in those two things.” Other qualities he mentioned are being more physical, tougher, maintaining intensity for 60 minutes and playing with greater discipline and intangibles than their opponents. “That mentality creates a respect that helps you be successful in your league, in the team that you play, year-in and year-out.”

-- Asked about the drop in explosive plays on offense, Saban said they’re working to execute better and give players opportunities. “We’ve had some really good skill players here and the players make the plays,” he said.

Mike Rodak is an Alabama beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.

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