For a second and final time Saturday, Alabama’s two top quarterbacks led the offense in a closed-doors scrimmage in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

The scrimmage — open to some donors but not to reporters or the general public — came a week before Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson will participate in the Tide’s spring football game April 22 that will stream live to a national audience.

Nick Saban offered a mixed review of what he saw Saturday from Milroe and Simpson.

“They both made some good plays, but they also both made some plays that they probably wish they would have had back,” Saban said. “They’re making progress. They’re improving. I think that they’re developing some confidence in the offense and what they’re supposed to read, and what they’re supposed to do.”

After the offense had the clear edge in the first scrimmage last week, Saban he thought “both quarterbacks played equally well” and “did a nice job out there managing the game.” In the second scrimmage Saturday, that advantage was not as clear.

“I thought we were a little up and down today,” Saban reiterated. “I thought we made some really good plays but I also thought we made, maybe, some mistakes we need to eliminate.”

Saban was asked specifically Saturday about Simpson’s running ability outside the pocket when plays break down inside the pocket. Although Simpson did not attempt any runs in very limited action last season as a freshman, departing Alabama defenders at the NFL combine last month noted Simpson’s athletic ability.

“He can move. He’s a good athlete. He can make plays with his feet,” Saban said. “I think Jalen is, probably, really special when it comes to that because of his speed. But Ty does it fairly well. … He ran the ball a lot in high school. He’s tough and he makes pretty good decisions when he’s running the ball.”

Knowing when to run is part of the evaluation of the quarterbacks, Saban stressed.

“Guys have to understand, is this a good time to run or not? Like, we did some two-minute today and guys were running where we’d be better off if they throw the ball away, because we’re just wasting time, really,” he said. “I think situationally, we can probably do a little bit better job of making decisions on when we use our feet to make plays and when it’s better to give up on a play and have a better chance to make a play the next play, especially in a lot of these two-minute situations.”

Saban also addressed ball security for Milroe, who was intercepted three times on 31 pass attempts last season, compared to five interceptions on Bryce Young’s 245 passes. Milroe also fumbled twice during his lone start against Texas A&M.

“We really try to emphasize two hands on the ball,” Saban said. “I didn’t think his pocket awareness was bad last year. I think his ball security was not what it needs to be. Sometimes he starts moving around, you’ve got to have two hands on the ball so you can’t knock the ball out of your hands. That’s something we’ve worked really hard so far this spring.”

Mike Rodak is an Alabama beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.