Is Jalen Milroe fully healthy? Kalen DeBoer weighs in on Alabama QB struggles

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe is coming off his worst game of the 2024 season, as the Crimson Tide lost to rival Tennessee, 24-17, Saturday in Knoxville.

To kick off his redshirt junior season, Milroe was stellar in the month of September, but he has come back down to earth since the calendar turned to October – and Alabama’s record has dropped to 5-2 (2-2 SEC). The trend has led some to ponder if Milroe hasn’t been 100 percent healthy during the Tide’s recent slump, and Kalen DeBoer was asked just that.

“At this point in the year, I don’t think there’s many guys that play a lot of snaps who don’t have something and just working through it,” DeBoer said on Monday. “But he’s more than capable, and as he goes through the week, you’re just ready to play on Saturdays. 

“So there’s nothing that’s gonna be holding him back from going out there and being able to help us get a win. I’m confident of that.”

Milroe threw for 239 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions on 25-45 passing in Alabama’s second loss of the season. His 56 completion percentage was his lowest of the year, and Saturday in Knoxville marked Milroe’s fourth straight game with an interception and second in a row with two picks. It was also his first game without a rushing score.

In his last three games, Milroe has had three of his four lowest rushing outputs of the season. In the loss to Vanderbilt, he rushed for 10 yards and a touchdown on seven carries, in a 2-point win over South Carolina, had 36 yards and two scores on a season-high 18 attempts and then in the road loss to Tennessee, he rushed for 11 yards on 14 carries.

Milroe has not been as effective as a runner of late, and 48 hours after a loss, Alabama offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan was asked why he believes that has been the case.

“I think there were some effective runs,” Sheridan said. “There’s obviously some read elements of some of those runs where we need to make sure we make the right reads all the time. I think the negative yardage plays and going backwards, that’s really what’s hurt us as far as the production and that standpoint and some of that has been in the pass game. 

“And so just eliminating those, I think, will help us obviously stay ahead of the chains, get more at-bats as far as just opportunities for that and you’re trying to find new ways and creative ways for all your players. Obviously, you get this far into the season, there’s certain things that you have tendencies on. There’s certain schemes or sets that you’ve run plays at before, and you’re trying to counter that with other types of schemes. 

“So yeah, I think we’ve gotta eliminate the negative plays. That would be the biggest thing that I would say is when we have negative yardage plays, it’s hard for anybody to overcome that, and so that certainly skews some of the stats that way and that’s what we’ll be focusing on.”

Milroe is still among the top five SEC quarterbacks in multiple statistical categories and is sixth nationally in yards per pass (9.7) and ninth in passer rating (167.74) after Week 8.

But how does UA keep his confidence up after a second game with multiple turnovers?

“I think none of us coached or played well enough in the game Saturday, and that starts with me,” Sheridan said. “Our ability to execute consistently and take advantage of the opportunities that we were presented, we obviously fell short in those spots. And it’s all of us. We’re all involved in that.

“Jalen’s an extremely confident player. I have no concerns about that at all. His preparation creates that confidence for him, and I know he’ll get back to work this week, just like the rest of our players will.”

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