Jalen Milroe to start Alabama's season opener vs. MTSU, per report
Jalen Milroe will start Alabama’s season opener against Middle Tennessee on Saturday, Sept. 2, ESPN’s Chris Low reports. The decision was expected after the redshirt sophomore was first up in the spring and summer, and Milroe will now take the first snap for the Crimson Tide.
Earlier this week, head coach Nick Saban discussed Milroe’s progress this preseason.
“I think he’s more comfortable in the pocket,” said Saban of Milroe on Monday. “I think that he has more confidence in the way he executes and the way he plays. He’s been more consistent in the way he’s played, and I think that’s gonna be the key of the drill for him to be able to maintain that consistency in every practice so that he is developing the kind of habits that are gonna carry over in the game and help him be successful.”
Last season, Milroe played in eight games, including one start where he filled in for Bryce Young when the starter was injured. Milroe was in the starting lineup the next week against Texas A&M where he completed 12-of-19 passes for 111 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. For the entire 2022 campaign, where he spent most of his time as the backup, Milroe threw for 297 yards, five touchdowns and three picks while completing 58.5 percent of his passes. He also ran for 265 yards and an additional score on 31 rushing attempts (8.55 ypc).
Milroe has competed with Ty Simpson, Tyler Buchner and Dylan Lonergan this summer and has managed to hold them all off – for now. But Saban has been adamant that just because a player starts the first game doesn’t mean his job is secure for the duration of the 2023 season.
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“The quarterback who plays on Saturday, that’s the quarterback for Saturday,” Saban said Thursday. “The life of a quarterback – any quarterback – depends on how they perform. If a guy plays well, that’s what creates security at that position. And if you don’t play well – because the first thing everybody does when you have success, the quarterback gets a lot of credit. But also when things don’t go well, the first guy they point at is the quarterback.
“So a guy’s gotta understand that the way he performs is really, really important. All three guys have made significant improvement,” Saban said, “We’d like to play more than one guy in the game. I’ve told the guy that’s gonna start the game, ‘We want you to play well enough so we have an opportunity to play all the guys at the position because that’s important for us.’
“But whoever starts the game, it’s not their job in perpetuity because they have the perform well, and because they don’t have a lot of experience, I think we’re all interested in seeing how they all perform.”
The Alabama-Middle Tennessee matchup will kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
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