A loss and ugly showings the two previous weeks had soured the tone of Alabama football postgame press conferences. But after righting a few wrongs against Ole Miss on Saturday, there was a moment of levity in the Bryant-Denny Stadium north endzone media room.

Following a bounce-back performance from quarterback Jalen Milroe, UA head coach Nick Saban was asked about the importance of patience and how it related to Milroe’s opening weeks of the 2023 season. After crediting the third-year thrower and his performance in Alabama’s 24-10 win, Saban noted the Tide could clean up some of its miscues.

“It takes a lot of patience on my part when you score five touchdowns and have it called back,” Saban said with a smile. “That takes patience, too. It takes patience when you’re first-and-1 at the (1-yard line) and you don’t score a touchdown. That takes patience. So I got a lot of things testing my patience.”

Saban was referencing a holding flag on Jermaine Burton that wiped away a 21-yard touchdown run by Jase McClellan. It was the most recent example of a Tide mental mistake costing it points. It happened twice against Texas on Sept. 9 after two offensive linemen fouls. It occurred twice more against South Florida last Saturday, once on a long run and on a 100-yard kickoff return.

The first of two self-inflicted errors against the Rebels came after the Tide couldn’t capitalize on a blocked punt by Ja’Corey Brooks. With a second-quarter drive starting on the doorstep of the end zone, Seth McLaughlin snapped a ball over Milroe’s head for a 14-yard loss. Milroe was then sacked on back-to-back plays to bring Will Reichard out for a field goal.

While ultimately inconsequential to the final score, the lapses — Alabama scored 16 points in five red zone trips, including one Milroe interception to double coverage — kept the Rebels in striking distance before the pass rush and sound tackling gave the Tide a home win.

“I think they need to learn about themselves, in terms of having confidence in what they can do when they do things correctly and how important that is,” Saban said. ” … They play with more discipline and don’t have the negative plays that we keep sort of shooting ourselves in the foot with too often. So we got to eliminate those and I think every one of those is an opportunity to learn.”

RELATED: What Nick Saban said after Alabama started SEC play by beating Ole Miss

Saban gives injury update after Deontae Lawson exits Ole Miss game

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].