Early in Alabama's first full pad practice of fall camp, Shaun Dion Hamilton was matched up against star running back Bo Scarbrough during a tackling drill.
It was Hamilton's first time trying to tackle anyone since tearing his ACL Dec. 3, another important step for him in his recovery from that serious knee injury. And after that drill, and after hitting Scarbrough, Hamilton remembers thinking to himself, "I'm back."
The standout senior linebacker is healthy, back down to 230 pounds and set to start at inside linebacker when Alabama plays Florida State on Saturday.
Hamilton is also faster and more explosive than he was before tearing his ACL, according to numbers from Alabama's Catapult system that tracks things such as a player's speed.