Jalen Milroe reveals the advice injured Bryce Young gave him after coming off the bench
The spotlight will be shining brightly on Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe this weekend as he steps in to start for the injured Bryce Young, who will reportedly miss Saturday’s game against Texas A&M with a sprained shoulder. It would be Milroe’s first collegiate start.
Milroe, a redshirt freshman, finished out Alabama’s win against Arkansas last weekend when Young went down, going 4-for-9 passing for 65 yards and touchdown to go with six rushing attempts for 91 yards and touchdown — which came on a 77-yard rush. All he was trying to do was heed the advice Young gave him coming off the field.
“His advice was just to stay calm, cool and collected. Just falling back to your level of training,” Milroe said postgame.
As evidenced by his stat line, Milroe is a much more potent rushing threat at this point than he is a polished passer. Alabama head coach Nick Saban said that if Milroe ended up starting a game or playing extensively, it would behoove the Crimson Tide to lean in to a more run-centric offense than they run with Young in the game.
Alabama certainly has the personnel to pound the rock on the ground. Along with Milroe, they have star running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who helped ice out Arkansas with 206 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries, and a cadre of reserve running backs.
And while he still has a ways to go as a passer, Milroe has already learned plenty from practicing and working with Young.
“Me and him have a great bond. At practice, biggest thing at practice, I have a great quarterback in front of me, so just learning from him. And I was able to take thing I’ve learned from Bryce and take it in today,” Milroe said.
Except, at least for now, there is no quarterback in front of Milroe.