After the Game with Jalen Milroe

Q: What’s were you thinking to yourself in warmups when the crowd reacted enthusiastically to your name in the starting lineups? 

A: Honestly, it’s a blessing. My gaal, I was talking to my parents about this during the week, was that every kid has dreams and aspirations to play Division I football, but not everyone has the opportunity. And so I’m very appreciative to play the game that I love. I try to be appreciative and just be humble, you know, to be able to play the game that I love. So, just to step out on the field was just amazing to me. It’s the start of football season. I love it.

Q: I joked with Seth McLaughlin earlier that you bailed him out on the low snap. But is that one of the strengths of your game is sometimes making something out of nothing?

A: The guys around me made it possible. If the guys didn’t run the right routes off the line and block certain guys on that play, they made it all possible, the guys around me. That is all group success on that play no matter who gets in the end zone.

Q: Talking to people around this camp, I heard that you threw a pretty good deep ball. Do you think you proved that to people?

A: In the offseason, that was one area of my game that I wanted to improve on. Just looking in the mirror trying to improve, and I think that was one element of my game that I wanted to improve on. So I was able to have a play where I was able to push it out down the field. We had success with it.

Q: It seemed you developed a little chemistry with Isaiah Bond and Jermaine Burton? 

A: They played well, but it all came down to preparation and the offseason grind, you know, staying up late at night watching tap,e going into the field. When we had break from the facility, we went to Florida to go train. It’s just little things like that, that helped us, that catapult us to be successful during the season. So I think it would just came from the offseason grind and then how we approach every day when we practice.

Q: You know the media works. There’s going to be a lot of talk about your performance and you’ll be on the stars of the weekend. How you keep yourself grounded? 

A: I didn’t play a great game. There’s a lot of things that I need to improve on from this game,  but I’m gonna enjoy this win. I gotta take it day by day, and honestly enjoy it. It was a long week of preparation, and it was a hard-fought win. So I’m just gonna appreciate the win. But like I said, I want to improve on all areas of my game, and so I’m gonna look in the mirror tonight and try to improve.

Q: We knew the offseason line would be big guys and we assumed they’d be good run blockers, but they pass protected well. What did you think of the big guys up front?

A: All trust in them. All trust in them. All love in them. Those guys can play. They’re hungry. They play as one unit, one heartbeat. And that’s key. That’s gonna push us each game that we play this year. Those guys are hungry. You know, I love each one of those guys, and I tell them that. I trust in them and I believe in them. I love them.