Alabama football will be missing one one of its top defenders on Saturday against Mercer, with redshirt senior edge Que Robinson officially out for the year. Robinson was injured in the Crimson Tide’s win over LSU.

“Just a special, special person in every way. You hate to see a guy that pours so much into it go through what he’s going through. The one thing when I think about Que is not just what he is on the field, but pre-practice, he is mentoring, doing things for other guys.

“He just cares so much about the team. He just cares so much about this place. This is just something that sticks out on top of what you see on game days. Just a great person. He’s poured a lot into this place.”

Alabama has a buy game in Mercer coming up Saturday before closing its regular-season SEC schedule with Oklahoma and Auburn. If it’s going to be successful entering the postseason, it must work around Robinson’s absence.

For the most part, it will be Qua Russaw and Yhonzae Pierre, who defensive coordinator Kane Wommack praised on Monday.

“Those guys are excited for the challenge, next man up mentality,” Wommack said of the youngsters at the position he refers to as the wolf. “As the season goes on, these are the defining moments—do players step up in the moment when they’re needed? And ultimately that will determine our success here on the back end season.”

In addition to those two redshirt freshmen, Alabama could also have Jihaad Campbell for more snaps. The star inside linebacker has been seeing more reps at edge in recent weeks, in an effort to have him make an impact rushing the passer.

Wommack explained how Campbell could be used going forward in that spot.

“He’s really such a difference maker wherever you put him on the field, and so you want to find creative ways to get him in one-on-one matchups,” Wommack said. “From a pass-rush standpoint, there’s things that we can do if we show him as a defensive end and drop him out in coverage, right? There’s different things that we can do scheme-wise, from that perspective, but certainly in terms of giving us pass-rush, I think that is a piece of his game and that’s what to me makes him such a well-rounded player.”

Alabama will face Mercer at 1 p.m. CT Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium. UA will also be without one of its depth pieces at edge, with Keanu Koht suspended.

Saturday’s game will be streamed on SEC Network+.