Jaeden Roberts injury update: Alabama OL's status for opener vs. Florida State revealed

Alabama senior guard Jaeden Roberts has been medically cleared and is expected to play in Saturday’s season-opener at Florida State. That came according to the program’s collective Yea Alabama via AL.com’s Nick Kelly.

Roberts, the 6-foot-5 and 327-pound returning starting at right guard, was considered limited throughout the week of practice leading into Saturday’s opener. He has been dealing with an unspecified lingering issue during preseason camp.

Alabama guard Jaeden Roberts is cleared to play for Florida State, @yea_ala announced. Has been in concussion protocol and missed a good portion of camp

— Nick Kelly (@_NickKelly) August 29, 2025

This is welcome news for the Crimson Tide. And it came after second-year Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer described Roberts as “very limited” during Wednesday’s appearance on the SEC’s weekly coaches teleconference.

“He’s been practicing,” DeBoer said Wednesday. “Very limited, very limited. I mean, he’s making progress but it’s slow and steady. I know this has been going on for a couple weeks. A lot of the same, nothing more than that, really.”

With Roberts’ status resolved, all eyes in Tuscaloosa turn to senior defensive lineman Tim Keenan III, who is expected to miss multiple games after undergoing tightrope surgery to address a high-ankle injury suffered Thursday, according to On3’s Brett McMurphy. McMurphy also reported Keenan is expected to return a some point later this season.

“Yet to be determined,” DeBoer said of Keenan’s status on Wednesday. “Probably not but we’ll see… He had a lower-body injury. A lot of it is always, kind of, figure it out after practice. Obviously, gathering information in the moment I’m in right now, trying to understand exactly where it’s at. Our staff is unbelievable. They have done pretty impressive things on getting guys back. Waiting on the update on that. I don’t know if I can give you a percentage and be confident in that. But it is a lower-body injury.”

Keenan was a key player last year in Tuscaloosa, playing in all 13 games. He recorded 40 tackles, 7.5 of which were for a loss. Alabama did not have the most sack production but Keenan did a solid job from the interior, getting 2.5 on his personal stat sheet.

Roberts provides a much-needed veteran presence on the Crimson Tide offensive line alongside returning junior left tackle Kaydn Proctor and junior center Parker Brailsford. Roberts has started 21 straight games over the past two seasons in Tuscaloosa.

No. 8 Alabama will kick off its 2025 season in a rare road opener at 3:30 pm ET on Saturday. The game is against Florida State in Tallahassee.

— On3’s Griffin McVeigh contributed to this report.