Will Alabama QB Keelon Russell be ready for Vanderbilt after LSU injury?

Keelon Russell had one of the “guttier” performances Alabama football offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb has ever seen. Russell stormed back from an ankle injury against a stalwart of an LSU defensive front and responded, Grubb said. Nothing was too big for Russell, Grubb said, or too tough.

“I don’t think, I know his best football is ahead of him, and I think he’s one of the best quarterbacks, if not the best quarterback in the country,” Grubb said. “I’ve said that before, and he’s going to keep proving that.”

As Alabama turns its attention to Vanderbilt, though, a focus remains on Russell and how he can continue to progress while also nursing an ankle injury.

While Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer failed to address the severity of the ankle injury Russell stormed back from, DeBoer considers Russell’s status “day-to-day.”

“We got to keep moving and winning and playing our best football,” DeBoer said. “So you’re weighing how he feels and what the medical (staff) says as far as, we never want to hurt him. We’ll never do that, you know, but we got to go out there and obviously be able to play at the level that can help us win. So we got a lot of confidence if we had to move to Austin (Mack) at some point, but, he’s day-to-day and going to continue to finish out the game. That’s a really good sign right there.”

Grubb said Russell “responded well” after a foot injury against Texas A&M that “healed quickly.”

“I think 48 hours after the football game to 72 hours is the most critical part, just to see where he’s at and what he’s going to be capable of,” Grubb said. “But they seem pretty confident that Keelon’s going to be all right.”

After returning from the injury tent against LSU, Russell completed seven of his 10 passes for 109 yards and three passing touchdowns, showing DeBoer exactly who Russell is and who DeBoer expects the Alabama quarterback to be for the rest of the season.

“For him to play at the level he played at, getting dinged up a little bit, is impressive in itself and I expect him to do everything he can to get out on the football field,” DeBoer said.

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: Will Alabama QB Keelon Russell be ready for Vanderbilt after LSU injury?