Jalen Milroe: "I'm Not One-Dimensional"
Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe is on a mission to prove that he is the best quarterback in the Class of 2025.
NFL COMBINE Q&A: JALEN MILROE, QB, ALABAMA
Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe met with the assembled media in Indianapolis at the NFL Scouting Combine. Milroe has a huge opportunity to seize the QB3 title at his combine workout, as other top quarterback prospects have opted out of the throwing portion. Below is his Q&A exchange from his podium interview.
How was your meeting with the Browns?
I thought it was a really good meeting. Being able to meet everyone in the room, understand who's the offensive staff, being able to talk ball, another opportunity for them to get to know me. So overall I thought it was a really good meeting and I'm looking forward to building with the Browns.
What is your goal for this week?
My overall goal is getting in front of teams, being able to talk to them. It's all about relationships number one, and also talking ball. So I think it was a great opportunity to be out here. It's a dream come true. I remember watching the combine, so now having a firsthand experience of what all is involved during the week is definitely a great week for sure. So that's my biggest goal.
Can you compare and contrast being coached by Nick Saban and Kalen DeBoer?
Yeah, for sure. The standard of excellence was the biggest thing between both of them that we were all trying to achieve as players and respecting them as coaches. That's the biggest thing we were able to learn each and every day and of course throughout the whole season you learn so much and with each coach I was able to learn and be better as a quarterback.
Would you like to reunite with Tommy Rees who’s the OC in Cleveland now?
Yeah, for sure. That would definitely be great. Me and Coach Rees had a great relationship while he was at Alabama. My first year starting, he was my first offense coordinator and so it would be outstanding to be able to play under him again and do a lot of special things.
What's the biggest thing he helped you improve with your game?
Yeah, for sure. Number one, just being comfortable on the field. That's number one. To build my knowledge of the game, I lacked knowledge being a first-year starter. So everything that he poured into me each and every day, us meeting one-on-one, being able to see football on the same lenses as him, you'd be able to play even better and so that was what I was able to do being around him.
What kind of player is Justice Haynes?
Yeah, for sure. Justice is a really hard worker. This is a guy who spends a lot of time on his body, working on this craft. I'm around him a lot. He's always looking to learn. I'm around him just trying to pour into him because I was a veteran player in college and I was able to be around him a lot and so this is a guy who's going to put everything into the program.
What are you getting out of meeting with teams here?
Yeah, so I think during that timeframe it's all about talking X's and O's and explaining how I see football, what are my favorite plays, distinguishing different defenses, what are the weaknesses of their defense. It's expanding my knowledge of what's what the fronts, coverages, pressures, everything as a whole and elaborating on that depending on whatever the play call is because that's the biggest thing. They want to see your knowledge, they want to see always involved and each pre-snap and post-snap read and so I'm able to do that.
What sets you apart in QB Class?
Yeah, for sure. I think I love football, I love everything about it. I know that where I'm at today, I'm going to be even better this time next year and so everything I try to do is for the better of the team and not be one dimensional at all. When it comes to physical attributes on the football field, there's a lot of things I can improve on, but there's a lot of things can't. And there's a lot of things I can definitely say that I can do and that's something that I can definitely harp on as a player, and I'm just committed. I stayed at one school my whole time in college. I didn't go anywhere. I had the opportunity to do so. I've been through adversity, so everything as a quarterback I've seen, I played in the hardest conference in the country. It would've been easy to play in other conferences, but what I was able to see in the SEC catapulted me to being ready to play in NFL.
Do you feel that your football IQ underrated?
Yeah, for sure. I'm cool with being underrated. I play in the hardest conference in the country. I played against the number one team in the country, the number one defense in the country. So if I lack knowledge I wouldn't be able to win big games. And 2023, my first year starting I didn't lose a SEC game and was playing a lot of different defenses, a lot of things that was unraveled when it came to the game planning and a lot of things I pour into that people don't see. It's a grind. It is a social norm to think after the game on Saturday that it is physically taxing but it's also mentally taxing because of everything that's involved with game planning, walkthroughs, the film, waking up early in the morning and so it's a lot of things that's involved to being a successful quarterback and it's misinterpreted. So the people that surround me, they understand how much I love football and how much I'm looking to grow as a player. So it's all about who definitely sees something in me.
Why do you think you can be the quarterback to turn things around in Cleveland?
Yeah, for sure. It's all about opportunity. I'm not someone to try to be a savior, I'm someone that's just trying to better a program as a whole. And so it's all about opportunity. And I would love to seize that opportunity as well and grow as a player. The biggest thing as a player would be better than you were the day before and try to strive for greatness. Climbing a mountain ain't easy, but when you get to the top of the mountain you'll learn so many things when it comes to adversity, when it comes to hardship, things along the way. And so I had all that throughout my journey as a player and so I'm just looking to lead or looking to grow as a player and be better than I was this past season.
Terrion Arnold, what was it like being teammates with him?
My boy T. Terrion's my best friend. He's my guy to this day. He's someone that throughout college we had a great relationship each and every day building, talking and the best thing that we had, we would be able to be vulnerable around each other and explain our thought process because it's a social norm to be considered tough and not be able to express your thoughts. But that's someone that I leaned on to be able to talk to and that's my dog for life. But this is a guy that's very, very, very disciplined when it comes to how he works. I never forget, people don't know about the fourth quarter program at Alabama and as you know, it is hard to prepare for that, but me and him ran the track. We ran about six miles each and every day trying to prepare for the fourth quarter program. We actually pulled Caleb Downs along, we ran the hundreds each and every day just trying to get our body fitted. We was around each other a lot. We built a great relationship. He is someone that puts a lot into football, someone that I love a lot and I'm just happy for all his success to be able to start the NFL. So I'm always behind him. That's my brother for life.
What would it mean to be reunited with Terrion, have you met with the Lions?
Yeah, I was able to talk to the Lions. What God has in store for me, I'm going to pursue that as much as possible, but down the road that would definitely be something great to be able to play with my brother.
Do you feel that you do a good job reading through your progressions?
Yeah, so with my time of being in college, I've had three different offensive coordinators and during that timeframe we had different progressions. And so that allows me to be ready for the NFL because I've seen so many progressions. I've seen so many defenses. Being coached by the best coach of all time, coach Saban, you see so many different defenses and be able to have post-snap, pre-snap read and so it's going to be uncovered with my knowledge base when it comes to what I've learned throughout college. And I've had a bunch of reads. Progression with option, pick a side, top down reads everything as a whole, peer progressions, everything as a whole when it comes to progression reads as a quarterback and so that allowed me to be ready. It would translate definitely to the NFL and so I think preparation is the biggest thing and the knowledge base I gained from the different coordinators and also Coach Saban.
Who would be your top five quarterbacks right now?
Top five quarterbacks? You're putting me on the spot ain't you? You got to give it to Pat Mahomes for sure. Pat Mahomes is a great quarterback. I like him a lot. I love Jalen Hurts, I love Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, I like him a lot and like (Matt) Stafford a lot. These are personal purposes but of course statistically you got to implement that, wins and all that stuff. But preference, that's the guys I watch a lot.
Where would you like to see most growth in your game?
Yeah, for sure. I think for me, the biggest growth from '23 to '24 was taking less sacks and being disciplined in the pocket. I think every sack is always on a quarterback. At any time of the game that you know where the hots are, know when to get rid of the ball, they should know when to be explosive, being aggressive but also being disciplined when it comes to the read. And so that was the biggest jump from '23 to '24, taking less sacks and as we go on this path, it's all about putting your best foot forward for the offense so that we're going on the right pace, so we can be explosive, so we can do the things that we need to do so we can win. That's number one. Then also grow as a player as a whole. My knowledge base, there's so many things I can learn more where I'm at today and where I'm going to be at when it comes to day one starting in the NFL. So always be a student of the game, always look to grow because there's going to be so many opportunities where I can look back and say this is the moment where I grew as a quarterback. And so that's where I'm at right now. Just trying to grow as much as possible, put my best foot forward and just look to grow.
How do you feel you stack up against long line of recent Alabama quarterbacks?
Yeah, the program as a whole, it came from a lot of great quarterbacks and we're all different. We're all unique in our own way, so it's hard to compare us as a whole. We had different teams, we had different players around us, we had a different system, so it's hard to compare, but I do respect each and every one of them because I know what it is. The biggest target its quarterback at Alabama. It's a hard task. It's something that you don't take lightly at all, especially being a captain as well. With those quarterbacks that are along that great timeline, they were also captains as well. They also had to put their best foot forward. One thing I got to applaud Mac Jones with is that he was a 4.0 student. He had a red cap at graduation, so just the mindset he had in the film room, but also in the classroom as well. And all of 'em also got their degree. So it's a lot of things. I was implemented to be a starting quarterback at University of Alabama and it is hard to interpret. It's hard to see that, but it It's a hard process for sure.
Are you friends with any of them?
Oh yeah, all of them.
What can you take from Hurts’ path to being a more complete passer?
Yeah, I think the biggest thing I learned from J-Hurts is how he kept his head down, always continuing to work. He always elevated his game, never got complacent and all you do is see great strides from him. And I got to applaud him as a person, him as a human being because he's definitely inspiring for a lot of quarterbacks of my image and also a lot of quarterbacks around the country. So he's leading the way for all of us and it's definitely a path that we're trying to pursue as quarterbacks and that's the best thing that I love about him. He's constantly just growing as a player.
Is there a part of you that thinks that you could have benefited more from opting out of bowl game against Michigan?
No, not necessarily. I started the season with my brothers, and I'm going to end the season with my brothers despite anything. Wins, losses is a part of the game, but I had no regrets from last year and no matter what, no matter if we won or lost, I would've had the same mindset to finish the season with my guys that I started it with.
Did you meet with Bucs?
No, I ain't met with them.
Did you meet with the Dolphins?
I met with them before but I didn't meet with them this week.
Lamar Jackson seems to be the popular comp for you. What do you think?
I love it. That's something that you can't coach. That's something that everyone can't do. A lot of people can throw the ball, a lot of people can run, but not a lot of people can do both and that's hard for a defense. And so when it comes to game playing, you're going to keep a defensive coordinator up at night. And so it's all about not being one dimensional and it's a lot of things that other people possess, but a lot of things that I can't do as a player. And so I'm excited for what's ahead. Lamar Jackson, definitely a quarterback I like a lot and so I just know it's definitely a threat when it comes to playing against other people.
How do you stay composed in big moments and keep the offense together?
Yeah, for sure. That's a good question. Preparation is key. One thing that's unique is that every play call that we call in the game, we repped it during the week. And so we put our bodies a lot of stress trying to master the opportunity, master situations as a whole. And so that's the biggest thing that we have when it comes to big moments in the game. So that's the thing, you got to fall back to your level of training and fall back to preparation. They're going to catapult you where you want to go.
Are you going to run the 40 here?
Thinking about it.
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