Alabama DL LaBryan Ray to Miss 6 Weeks After Undergoing Foot Surgery

It's another costly blow to the Alabama Crimson Tide defense.

After the unit showed clear flaws in the team's win over South Carolina -- despite the blowout, the Gamecocks largely moved the ball extremely well and scored 23 points -- it'll now be without a key player in LaBryan Ray.

The defense is already without Dylan Moses for the year, so losing a junior defensive lineman who registered 39 tackles (6 for a loss) and 2.5 sacks in 13 games last year, and another productive player is going to miss key upcoming matchups.

If he misses the full six weeks, the preseason All-SEC defensive end won't be taking the field against top opponents like Texas A&M and LSU.

While Bama certainly has the capability to make do during Ray's absence, there is one glaring issue -- all the defensive ends on the depth chart behind him are largely inexperienced. Justin Eboigbe and Byron Young are freshmen and Phidarian Mathis is a redshirt sophomore.

The good thing is that these guys should get ample reps during cakewalk matchups against Southern Mississippi and Ole Miss the next two weeks.