Tim Keenan’s fiery message of support for Kalen DeBoer is one Alabama fans must see

Tim Keenan is ready to go to war for his head coach and for his teammates. The Alabama team captain suffered a high-ankle sprain in practice during the lead-up to the season opener against Florida State and has missed the first three games as a result.

Keenan has worked hard to rehab his injury, and he's eager to get back onto the field. The expectation is that he'll be ready to go against Georgia, though it could be in a more limited capacity than would be ideal against the physical Bulldogs.

But it's clear that no matter how much Keenan is able to play, he's going to give it everything he's got. And he's going to ensure everyone else on the team does too, come hell or high water.

Keenan missed the trip to Tallahassee due to the injury. But he has seen all the disrespect lobbed toward Alabama - and Kalen DeBoer - in the aftermath of that loss:

"If they ain't wearing Crimson" was the rallying cry of Malachi Moore in the aftermath of the mass exodus of transfers following Nick Saban's retirement as they bridged the gap to the new era. Now, Alabama is taking on a us vs. the world type of mentality.

Keenan had a viral moment in Alabama's home opener against UL Monroe, where he stood on the sideline before the game, walked over to DeBoer, and gave him a fired-up pep talk before kickoff.

DeBoer has looked like a different coach in recent weeks, which is something that Keenan - and the rest of the locker room - has noticed.

Keenan says Alabama is ready for war - Tide fans will wait and see

Words are nice. They can be comforting. But Alabama fans need more than words from this team during the second year of the DeBoer era. Because last year's group said a lot of the right things, too, and then fell flat too often a year ago. An offseason full of posturing and good vibes turned completely sour the moment this team took the field against Florida State.

Alabama has played well the last two weeks, but there's no denying that the competition has decreased dramatically since Week 1. Georgia will provide a significant test, and could be the best team Alabama faces all season. How they perform against the Bulldogs - in victory or defeat - will go a long way in determining how the rest of the 2025 season goes.

It's not a must-win, but it is a must-compete. The team has to play hard. They have to play together. They need to put up a heck of a fight. Even if they do everything right, there's no guarantee of walking into Sanford Stadium and walking out with a win. That's a tough place to win a football game, even when things go correctly.

Alabama can match Georgia talent-for-talent, blue-chip for blue-chip. But what Georgia has proven that Alabama hasn't is that the Bulldogs have a championship mentality. Saturday night in Athens will give Keenan and his teammates the opportunity to show it.