Nick Saban praises Jalen Milroe's mindset: 'He's a perfectionist'

Jalen Milroe was benched following his performance against Texas. When Alabama went on the road to face USF, Milroe watched from the bench while Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpson struggled. Nick Saban immediately made the switch back heading into SEC play and the results have been positive.

With some good games stacking up, Milroe has become visibly more confident out there. This is not too big of a surprise from Saban, seeing how good the work effort is behind the scenes. He even described Milroe as a “perfectionist.”

“I think everybody needs to know that Jalen is a really hard worker,” Saban said. “He’s got a lot of pride in performance in terms of how he wants to do things. He’s a perfectionist in terms of the way he approaches playing the game. Hard worker. Well-liked by his teammates. I think his poise and confidence has increased with every game that he has played. I think that comes with experience.”

Alabama players have responded well to Milroe’s performances. The USF game is unlike anything we have seen from a Saban-led team since his first year in Tuscaloosa. Despite having such a talent advantage, they just were not fully there.

Even in the first half against Ole Miss, there were some serious head-scratching moments. But since then, Milroe has been effective and put together some complete games. Maybe not to the perfect level he would like to but nobody is ever going to complain about winning.

Milroe is completing around 65% of his throws, going for 1,397 yards, 11 touchdowns, and four interceptions. His YPA at 10.6 is among one of the best in the country, currently sitting at No. 2 in the SEC and No. 4 in the country.

Next up will be a rivalry game against Tennessee, Milroe’s first experience in the Third Saturday in October as a starter. Of course, Alabama was on the losing end last season in a historic game in Knoxville. There, Milroe was on the sideline watching Bryce Young dice up the Vols’ defense.

Now will be his chance to enjoy a cigar in the locker room with another ranked win. At the very least, you know the preparation from Milroe is going to be top tier and he will be ready to face Tennessee.

And we will have another opportunity to see how much his confidence has grown with another game under his belt.