With Alabama football quarterback Keelon Russell preparing to excel in the 2026 season, he led the program to a 45-17 win over the University of Kentucky on Saturday. While Russell had an impressive debut with the Alabama football team in the opening win against East Carolina, some will argue he took a step back on Saturday as head coach Kalen DeBoer spoke about the quarterback's play/

In the win over the Wildcats, Russell threw for 188 yards to go along with one touchdown and two interceptions on completing 16 of 23 pass attempts. Recording a 38.9 quarterback rating, Russell threw a pick on the first drive and fumbled the ball on the second, though he would get better as the game went along, with DeBoer expressing how “he stays cool and calm,” via On3 Sports.

“Sometimes he’ll go and try to make a play, and we just gotta help him understand the situation and how to keep us on the field,” DeBoer said after the win. “I don’t wanna take his aggressiveness away from him, because there’s some plays that he’s made out there, too. So, it’s a fine line. He’s gonna go help us win games, and he did that, I thought, played winning football in the second half.”

Alabama football's Kalen DeBoer takes some blame for interception

The interception that Russell threw ended up being a pick-six as he attempted to throw a wide receiver screen to Ryan Coleman Williams. DeBoer would speak on Russell needing to throw the ball away when nothing is open, but would also put some blame on himself, saying they need to “do a better job of giving him something clean.”

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“He’s an aggressive kid, and we love the things that he can bring to the table on that,” DeBoer said. “But when there’s guys in your face, and kind of maybe from the backside, you gotta throw through them, and it gets knocked down, just hand it off.”

Russell looks to improve and take the Crimson Tide to a 3-0 start next Saturday when the team faces Florida State.