Moments after the game ended and he shook the hand of South Florida coach Alex Golesh, Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer took a minute to talk with his quarterback.
DeBoer stood in the middle of the field with Jalen Milroe to share a few words. It didn’t last long, but it was clearly intentional.
Asked about the moment Monday, DeBoer said he couldn’t remember exactly what was said but he could remember
“It was probably just a lot of, ‘Hey, we’re always learning,’” DeBoer said. “I think that was the general theme of what I was sharing with him. ‘We’re always learning. It’s good to grind out a win in the fourth quarter.’ Just something along those lines that I think it had to do with, ‘You keep fighting for this reason. You’re gonna find a way to break through at some point if you just keep playing the game and let the game come back to you by competing.’”
Milroe was fresh off another performance with rushing and passing touchdowns as No. 4 Alabama pulled away late to defeat South Florida 42-16. But it took perseverance from Milroe and the offense. Alabama scored three of those touchdowns late; it was a one possession game for a while.
So far this season, Milroe has completed 23 of 35 passes (65.7%) for 394 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions. His passer rating is 207.4, per ESPN. Milroe has also rushed for 81 yards on 22 carries and four touchdowns. That’s a total of nine scores through two games.
There’s plenty of season left, but heading into the Wisconsin game on Saturday (11 a.m., FOX) at Camp Randall Stadium, DeBoer and offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan both shared their thoughts on Milroe’s play through two games Monday.
DeBoer mentioned that he liked the touchdown throws to Kendrick Law the first game and Kobe Prentice the second. Milroe had to step up in the pocket to make those plays.
“Those are things that I’ve seen that he’s really improved,” DeBoer said. “He had a scramble to (CJ) Dippre where he hit him along the sideline. I thought there was another one that he did a really good job, some other guys could’ve worked with him a little bit better on a scramble drill. He went to the right and hit Germie (Bernard) on a scramble. So, I think eyes downfield and playing that game that he can play because people are worried about his legs where he can run and take off or he can draw the attention to them and throw it. I think that’s been great.”
DeBoer said Milroe is getting better with making decisions every rep. DeBoer also saw Milroe make more strides with checking protections, too.
“I think he does a good job of talking and giving us feedback of what he likes and what he maybe is a little bit ‘hey let’s try to hold off on that’ as we go through the week and I love that,” DeBoer said. “I love that, because if there’s any question in any players minds, but especially the quarterback let’s hold off on that. That’s few and far between, but he’s done a good job of giving us feedback on what he saw and knowing that we can work together to help get him in the spots that he really wants to be in. We’re making progress. Great progress.”
Sheridan also thought Milroe did some “nice things” in terms of avoiding the pass rush and creating plays.
“I think there’s other times we’re looking for him to try to get the ball out of his hands when there are opportunities that present themselves that way,” Sheridan said.
Sheridan, a former quarterback himself, said there are times when negative plays happen and there’s not much a quarterback can do.
“But in the opportunities where we fell like maybe he could have made a different choice or decision, we just talk through that,” Sheridan said.
Sheridan said Milroe has been receptive to those discussions and recognizes room for improvement each and every game. But Milroe has done plenty of good, too.
“He made a lot of great plays for us,” Sheridan said.
Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.
