Alabama football preseason camp took another step toward the real start of the 2024 season Wednesday, when the Crimson Tide put on full pads for the first time. UA had previously been wearing helmets and shoulder pads, but the sixth camp practice saw the Tide in football pants instead of athletic shorts.

According to offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan, the difference wasn’t enormous on the first day.

“For us, one you get into uppers and you have shoulder pads on, there’s a lot of similarities,” Sheridan said after practice. “We had a couple live periods today, I thought the guys took care of the ball. I think that’s the biggest thing when you get into live portions of practice, the ball-carriers holding onto the football.”

The practice started out indoors, before moving outside later on. According to Sheridan, it was a move to help maintain the three outdoor practice field ahead of a long season, as well as an opportunity to learn how practices will work inside should the Crimson Tide need to come indoors for weather purposes.

After practice ended, players were rewarded when an ice cream truck pulled up outside, a welcome sight on the 94-degree Tuscaloosa day.

“I thought they acclimated and did a nice job that way,” Sheridan said. “And I’m sure there’ll be things that will go back and also improve on. But for a lot of the guys, whether you put thigh pads on for the offensive line, that doesn’t change their practice, you know? It’s really more the runners, the guys that are carrying the ball, acclimating to getting full speed tackles.”

One group that expects to get more use in Sheridan and Kalen DeBoer’s new offense is the tight ends. The room is deep in numbers, and tight ends coach Bryan Ellis said they handled the first day in full pads well.

“I thought the kids brought some physicality,” Ellis said. “You go first day in pads and you’re working on short-yardage, goal-line situations and the different things that you do when you get to go full pads, the different live situations that you do, and I thought the kid s brought good energy, good juice today.”

Alabama returns to the practice field Thursday. The Crimson Tide opens the season Aug. 31 when Western Kentucky visits Tuscaloosa.