Nick Saban has coached 171 players at Alabama who have gone on to appear in an NFL regular-season game. Twelve of them could play in the same NFL game on Sunday when the Miami Dolphins and Philadelphia Eagles meet.

On Wednesday during the SEC teleconference, Saban recalled when the quarterbacks for those teams, the Eagles’ Jalen Hurts and the Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa, were vying for playing time at quarterback with the Crimson Tide.

“I never had two players that were really, really good players at the same position who actually supported each other the way those two guys supported each other when they were here,” Saban said. “I think that comes from mutual respect and both guys being great team guys and putting the team before their own personal feelings. One guy went like 26-2 as a starter and got replaced by another guy for a whole year and supported him. And when that guy got hurt, he went in and won the game.

“But the psychological support that they gave each other in every circumstance is something that I think is really, really special, and I’m sure they have the same feeling about each other. I know they’re both great competitors, so they’re going to go do what they have to do for their team. But I do think there’ll be a mutual respect by both guys.”

Hurts won the SEC Offensive Player of the Year Award in 2016, when Alabama won the SEC Championship Game over Florida 54-16 and the Peach Bowl over Washington 24-7 before falling in the CFP national-championship game to Clemson 35-31.

In 2017, Hurts again led the Crimson Tide to the CFP title contest. But with Alabama trailing Georgia 13-0 at halftime, Tagovailoa took over at quarterback, and the Tide rallied for a 26-23 overtime victory.

Tagovailoa kept the starting spot in 2018. But in the SEC Championship Game, Hurts led Alabama to touchdowns on its final two possessions with Tagovailoa out of the game to rally the Tide to a 35-28 victory over Georgia.

Tagovailoa finished as the runner-up to Oklahoma QB Kyler Murray in the balloting for the 2018 Heisman Trophy. In 2019, Hurts took over as the Sooners quarterback after Murray left as the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Hurts finished as the runner-up to LSU QB Joe Burrow in the balloting for the 2019 Heisman Trophy.

The Dolphins chose Tagovailoa with the fifth pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, with Hurts going to the Eagles at No. 53.

Both players became starters during their rookie seasons. In 2022, Tagovailoa led the NFL in passing-efficiency rating and Hurts finished as the runner-up for the AP NFL Most Valuable Player Award as Philadelphia reached the Super Bowl.

This season, each quarterback has his team at 5-1, and Tagovailoa leads the NFL in passing yards and touchdown passes.

The Dolphins and Eagles meet at 7:20 p.m. CDT Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. NBC will televise the game.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.