Jalen Milroe could have reacted poorly. After he started at quarterback in the first two Alabama football games of the season, Milroe didn’t see the field Saturday against South Florida, with Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpson getting all the snaps.

He didn’t. According to Nick Saban, Milroe kept showing leadership.

Now, he’s back in the starting job for the foreseeable future, beginning with Saturday’s matchup with Ole Miss at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

“We want our players when these things happen to direct their feelings in a way that’s going to help them be better players,” Saban said Thursday during his weekly appearance on the Pat McAfee Show. “Jalen did that this week and I’m pleased with his performance. He’s got nothing to prove here. He’s our guy. He’s the guy that I have confidence in and I just had a meeting with him a bit ago, clean up some fundamental things and watch him play.”

Of the three quarterbacks who have seen the field this season, Milroe showed the most promise. He shared the SEC’s offensive player of the week award for his performance in the season-opener against Middle Tennessee State.

Then he struggled against Texas, throwing two ugly interceptions in the 34-24 loss. After that, Saban took a look at Buchner and Simpson.

The coach explained the choice to see what the others could do during his appearance on the McAfee Show.

“The other quarterbacks had very close competition and they didn’t really get much of an opportunity to play,” Saban said. “So we started this conversation (with Milroe) with the fact that, hey, we’re going to maybe look at somebody else playing the position, may last for a quarter or whatever. But then, you gotta get ready to play and I want to see you handle this. And everybody handles frustrations a little differently.”

Alabama and Ole Miss are scheduled to kick off at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. The game will be aired on CBS.

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