Alabama’s linebacker depth has reportedly reached the “critical” situation head coach Nick Saban foreshadowed.

Days before the Crimson Tide are set to play Mississippi State, multiple outlets confirmed that starting middle linebacker and signal-caller Deontae Lawson will be unavailable.

Saban said on Wednesday both Lawson and guard Terrence Ferguson didn’t practice and were “very questionable” for the Tide’s road conference opener. BamaCentral’s Austin Hannon was the first to report Lawson’s impending absence on Thursday night. ESPN’s Chris Low confirmed and said Lawson’s ankle sprain could cause the redshirt sophomore to miss multiple games.

If true, Lawson will be the first starting player the Tide has lost to injury this season for an extended period of time, testing UA’s depth chart.

“We played most of the (Ole Miss) game this last week with Jihaad (Campbell) playing and Trezmen (Marshall) playing. So that’ll be the way that we go,” Saban said on Monday, “obviously, the depth at that position is going to become critical for us if Deontae can’t go and we’ll keep working with these guys and try to get them ready to go this week.”

Lawson is No. 12 Alabama’s (3-1, 1-0 SEC) second-leading tackler, with his 26 just one behind Caleb Downs’ 27. The Tide defense has allowed 13 points across the last eight quarters following a home loss against Texas.

Mississippi State will host Alabama at Davis Wade Stadium at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN.

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