I've been saying for quite some time now that quarterback competitions themselves are almost always a farse 9 times out of 10. If you read any articles I've written on the subject I've said as much many times.
Saban had a difficult choice to make this offseason. AJ Feeley had showed enough lack of talent to conclude that the guy was never going to be a quality starter (don't argue with me, not because I'm saying your opinions don't matter, but because I do not want to open up another discussion about the validity of AJ as a QB) but he had also won over a bit of the locker room by playing through pain and more importantly, beating the Patriots. Yet, there was nobody we could get. Saban was unwilling to draft one of the two QBs available in this draft, probably concluding that neither were worth it, and there were no quality QBs available on the free agent market. Saban asks his new OC Linehan what he thinks and Linehan says coincidentally the backup in minnesota and my best buddy Frerotte is available and I would be willing to bet a lot of money he can perform better than Feeley.
So Saban brings in Frerotte for a competition that has been staged largely as an opportunity to get Frerotte the chance to win the locker room away from Feeley in an atmosphere of fair competition. The coaches felt they knew the outcome of the battle, but that doesn't mean it would have been impossible for Feeley to win. Saban did not HAVE to open the competition back up prior to the Atlanta game.
No doubt in my mind he brought Frerotte in with the understanding that all Frerotte had to do was perform like he has for Linehan in Minnesota and the chances are 99% that he'll beat Feeley for the job. No doubt in my mind, however, that Saban is disappointed with how Frerotte has done so far. So the door was open for Feeley despite the coaches feeling they knew the outcome before it happened.