Alabama football has its starting quarterback for the Middle Tennessee State game, with ESPN’s Chris Low reporting Friday that Jalen Milroe will lead the Crimson Tide on Saturday. The quarterback competition has stretched throughout the entire offseason.

And if Nick Saban has his way, the battle will continue.

“Where you all think that, like whoever we name as a starter the first game, that’s like the end of it,” Saban said Wednesday. “That’s not the end of it. It’s just the beginning. What if a guy doesn’t play good? He’s not entitled to keep playing. And the guy that doesn’t play got every opportunity to practice and be more consistent and win the team over so that when he gets an opportunity to play, he plays really well. We have changed quarterbacks around here a few times during the season. So, I know you guys are looking for an end but it’s not even gonna be the end in the first game.”

Saban has repeated the talking point throughout camp. Being named starter for MTSU doesn’t guarantee the job for the Week 2 matchup with Texas and beyond.

That leaves the door open for any combination of Ty Simpson and Tyler Buchner, or even freshman Dylan Lonergan, to jump into the job moving forward, particularly if Milroe struggles. During his weekly radio show on Friday, Saban said he had told the quarterback, who turned out to be Milroe, that he wanted to get others in the MTSU game for a look.

“A guy’s gotta understand that the way he performs is really, really important,” Saban said. “All three guys have made significant improvements. Would like to play more than one guy in the game. I’ve told the guy who’s going to start the game, we want you to play well enough so we have an opportunity to play all the guys at the position because that’s important for us.”

Alabama did not make any of the quarterbacks available to media throughout the preseason. However, their Crimson Tide teammates have praised the entire group when asked.

Seth McLaughlin said Monday that all the competitors had improved throughout the offseason and the team was ready to go regardless of its QB.

“I think the whole room has had a lot of growth,” Alabama’s center said. “Each guy has gotten a lot better. It’s been easier playing center for each guy taking reps throughout camp. I’m glad to see how those guys are progressing and I think any guy that goes out this week is going to have a good time and play well.

Milroe was the longest-tenured quarterback in Tuscaloosa heading into the competition. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound redshirt sophomore served as Bryce Young’s primary backup last season, leading the Crimson Tide to victory in his first start against Texas A&M.

He came to Alabama as a four-star prospect in the class of 2021 according to 247Sports’ composite ratings. Milroe flipped his commitment to Alabama from Texas in August of 2020.

Alabama is scheduled to face MTSU at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The game will be aired on the SEC Network.

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