Kalen DeBoer shares excitement of having Jam Miller, Tim Keenan back vs. Georgia

Alabama has been without RB Jam Miller and DL Tim Keenan for several weeks. Ahead of Week 5’s blockbuster matchup against Georgia, Miller has been cleared and Keenan has been listed as ‘probable’ on the Wednesday injury report.

Miller, a senior, missed the first three games of the regular season with a dislocated collarbone suffered during the preseason. Keenan was nursing an ankle injury and has yet to play to this point. Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer expressed his excitement to have the pair back on both sides of the football.

“We’ve been missing these guys the entire year, so it’s really good to have them back out there on the football field,” DeBoer said during Wednesday’s coaches show. “I think just, the vibe that surrounds them, they do it different ways. Jam’s a little more quiet. TK, he’s a little more vocal. But then in the end, you can tell their presence is there.

“So that’s one part of it. Obviously, the playmaking and how they can help us whether it’s interior with TK and just being a big body that we’ve probably missed here the last couple weeks. Then Jam, with his explosiveness, he’s really just on purpose back that can protect, run the ball, catch out of the backfield and be a threat that way.”

Miller’s collarbone injury stems from an incident during Alabama’s final preseason scrimmage and underwent a procedure that same day August 16th. There was hope Miller would only miss the non-conference portion of their schedule with their first game in SEC play being against the Bulldogs.

It appears that timeline was spot-on. After all, he had participated in warmups in each of the last two games for the Crimson Tide. He had appeared trending in the right direction for a couple of weeks now.

For Keenan, he underwent surgery last month. While there was no initial timeline on his injury, he also warmed up with Alabama during Week 4, but did not play in the game. Though, it was a good sign that he may be able to play against Georgia and just like Miller, this is the case.

To DeBoer’s point about Keenan’s vocal leadership, the Alabama DL went viral during Week 2 after being shown on video getting in DeBoer’s ear with some sort of motivational speech. DeBoer nodded as Keenan spoke.

“That’s just TK,” DeBoer said after the Week 2 matchup. “He loves this team, and he’s been nothing but the high-end support and giving everything you got.”

Kickoff between the Crimson Tide and Badgers is set for Noon ET. ABC will carry the national broadcast.