Saban lauds Milroe’s growth: ‘Doing a lot better’

Alex Scarborough, ESPN Staff WriterOct 9, 2023, 02:18 PM ET
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- Covers the SEC.
- Joined ESPN in 2012.
- Graduate of Auburn University.

Following Jalen Milroe‘s best performance in an Alabama uniform against Texas A&M on Saturday, coach Nick Saban praised the sophomore quarterback’s ability to grow every game this season.

“The big thing we’ve tried to get him to understand is you have to keep playing the next play,” Saban said Monday. “There’s not always going to be perfect plays, but whatever happened on the last play is a learning experience.”

Milroe struggled to bounce back from disappointment early in his time as a starter after taking over for Bryce Young, who left for the NFL after last season and was the No. 1 overall draft pick of the Carolina Panthers.

After throwing two interceptions in a loss to Texas during the second game of the season, Saban benched Milroe, a redshirt sophomore from Texas.

But after not playing at all against South Florida, Milroe returned to the starting lineup and has since scored six touchdowns (four passing, two rushing) and thrown two interceptions in three games.

Alabama (5-1, 3-0 SEC), meanwhile, is riding a three-game winning streak and finds itself atop the SEC West.

On Saturday, Milroe threw for a career high 321 yards and three touchdowns in the 26-20 victory against the Aggies.

“You cannot allow one play to affect the next play,” Saban said. “And that’s something he’s learned and is doing a lot better, staying much more positive on the sidelines, communicating well with his teammates and coaches in terms of what he saw, what he didn’t see, what he needs to do to get it corrected. So that’s something that comes a little bit with experience. But I also think it comes with awareness, and I think we’re making good progress in both areas.”

Alabama will host Arkansas (2-4, 0-3 SEC) on Saturday in Tuscaloosa.

“The biggest thing we want to focus on is to build on the positives of the good things our team did in the last game — competitive spirit, did a lot of good things in terms of being able to pass the ball effectively, make some explosive plays, defense did a pretty good job for the most part,” Saban said. “So, obviously, there’s things we need to work on, and we want to be positive about how we fix those things in the future so we can continue to progress as a team.

“Arkansas is really a good team. They’ve had some really tough games, some really close losses. But they’ve scored a lot of points. KJ Jefferson is a really good, big-time quarterback — big guy, hard to sack, can run, very talented arm. [Coach Sam Pittman] does a great job with these guys with their ability to run the ball, whether it’s quarterback runs or whatever.”