Alabama football 5-star defensive back out with arm injury

Alabama football will be without a five-star freshman early in 2026.

Jireh Edwards, a five-star safety in the 2026 recruiting class, suffered a right arm injury and will undergo surgery Monday, Aug. 24, Alabama‘s Name, Image and Likeness entity announced. The injury is not season ending, per the entity.

“Jireh’s going to play for us, but how much does he play for us early in the season and in what situations?” Kane Wommack said. Aug. 18 “Those are the question marks we’ve really challenged him in like, can you put everything together that we can throw you out there on any given down? And he’s still working towards that.”

Edwards, a 6-foot-2, 218-pound safety, had 92 tackles, 17 tackles-forloss, six pass breakups and three forced fumbles as a junior at Saint Frances Academy in Maryland

Edwards was the No. 33 player in the 2026 recruiting class per 247Sports’ composite rankings.

Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter or Instagram @colingaytnews.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football 5-star defensive back out with arm injury