When Nick Saban used the term “defections” last week to refer to the 11 players who left his Alabama program through the transfer portal since November, you could get a sense of how he felt about their departures.

He made his point perfectly clear Thursday night.

“This has been the most enjoyable [non-playoff] bowl practice experience we have ever had — I’ve ever had,” Saban said during his Sugar Bowl preview radio show. “The playoff teams are always ready to roll.

“But one of the things is — all the blinking lights are gone. You know what I mean by blinking lights? When you look at a Christmas tree and one light is blinking, and that’s all you look at, is the blinking light? You don’t see the beauty of all the rest of it?

“Well, when you have guys on your team sometimes that — I call them energy vampires — you use all your energy on these guys, trying to get them to do what they’re supposed to do. Those are the kind of guys that don’t end up playing in bowl games, and don’t end up doing the best things and make the best choices and decisions for the team and all that, because they’ve got other motivates, which I’m not being critical of.

“But this team has really worked hard and done really, really well. And a lot of players on our team have made a significant improvement. It’s been one of the most enjoyable bowl practices.”

This is the second season in the College Football Playoff era, after 2019, that Alabama has played in a bowl game without a national championship on the line.

“Sometimes it’s like pulling teeth,” Saban said. “It’s a tough motivation to get the guys going. It hasn’t been this year. Hopefully it will show up on the field Saturday.”

Saban referred to the players entering the transfer portal — including starting left guard Javion Cohen, four backup offensive linemen and four wide receivers — as having “opted out” of the Sugar Bowl.

“I think everybody knows the guys that opted out for whatever reasons,” he said.

This is the second time this year Saban has referred to “energy vampires.” In August, he told ESPN he believed players had bought in ahead of this season.

“We don’t have a lot of what I call energy vampires, guys that take all your time because they’re not doing what they’re supposed to do,” Saban said at the time.

Saban also said during spring practice began in April that the 2022 team, at the time, did not have “any complainers” on it.

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