Pageantry and pomp come with football in the Southeastern Conference. Each team has some pregame routine with a jubilant mascot and band. Unfortunately, the same uniformity cannot be said about injury updates.

While fans are grabbing beers and finding their seats, eagle-eyed observers are scanning warmups to see which players are, and aren’t, on the field. Some schools make this easier like LSU and head coach Brian Kelly providing clear injury designations multiple times a week. Some fans, like that of Nick Saban and Alabama football, rely on soundbites or outside sources to find out who’s playing ahead of time. That game continued this week.

With both No. 8 Alabama and No. 13 LSU coming off idle Saturdays, teams were careful with managing ailments during practice. On Monday, updates were made clear in Baton Rogue and remained vague in Tuscaloosa:

Defensive tackle Mekhi Wingo, a third-team All-American in 2022, had surgery and is out for the remainder of the regular season, Kelly said Monday. LSU cornerback and fourth-leading tackler Zy Alexander hurt his left leg on Oct. 21 against Army and won’t participate in Saturday night’s game. Freshman defensive back Ashton Stamps should be available after missing LSU’s last game, leaving the Tigers with a mostly inexperienced secondary.

For the Tide, Saban said six unnamed players were held out of practice last week with some nagging ailment. He didn’t offer names or further details once practice resumed:

“I think we got lots of guys that were banged up some rest and limited reps so that they could heal up and of course, we won’t know how well that happens until we see how they respond this week,” Saban said.

Alabama is awaiting the in-game return of inside linebacker Trezmen Marshall, who missed the Tennessee matchup with bruised ribs and offensive lineman Terrence Ferguson, who’s missed over a month with an ankle sprain. Cornerback Terrion Arnold participated in practice after suffering a concussion against the Vols.

In an era where media access is fleeting within some programs, expanding in others, injury reports have mostly fallen along the same lines. Kelly introduced his policy to be “proactive” in the world of legalized sports gambling. Saban said in August reporters aren’t allowed at UA practices because, in Saban’s mind, they would just “take roll” or note absences, then ask about them.

“We wanted to make sure that we were transparent with injuries, not putting any pressure on anybody here to guess who’s in, who’s out for a given game,” Kelly said in the preseason.

The Tide is a three-point favorite over LSU as of Tuesday, according to BetMGM. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. CT on CBS.

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].