Miller ‘Jams’ With Media

His real name is Jamarion Miller, but you can call him "Jam."

“Most people don’t know the right way to say my first name,” said Miller in his first trip to the UA media room Tuesday, "so I just said, ‘I’m going to go with Jam.’”

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Miller saw his role in Tommy Rees' Alabama offense increase dramatically in last week's win at home over LSU.  He played a season-high 13 offensive snaps, ran for 17 yards on four carries with a long of 10 yards and also caught his first pass of the 2023 campaign, a 35-yarder that LSU had clearly not seen on film.

In the second quarter against the Tigers, Miller hauled in a lobbed pass from quarterback Jalen Milroe and took it 35 yards to the LSU 32-yard line. It marked Alabama’s second-longest gain in its Week 10 matchup and led to the Tide taking a 21-14 lead over the visiting Tigers.

Miller also has come to play a big role in the Rees version of the Philly "Brotherly Shove." The sophomore can shove, but he also can run the ball out of that formatin and did so against the Tigers.

“I was happy when that call came in,” Miller said. “We work on it in practice just about every day. When that time comes, if it’s like a third down and short, we have to use the best of it. As you could see in the game, we got that first down.

“I’m going to do whatever I can for the team. If my name gets called up, I’m going to go out there and make the best of it. It doesn’t matter if it’s Roydell [Williams], Jase, to the youngest, Justice Haynes or Richard Young, when our chance comes, we’ll go do what we have to do.”

Miller added that Haynes and Young have both imrpessed in practice, even when on the scout team.

Whether it's "tush-pushing," running the ball, catching it on a wheel route or pass protection, Miller just wants to be in on the action.

“When I was in high school, my high school team really wasn’t as good in pass protection,” Miller noted, "and when I got here, that’s when I really started to learn a lot about pass protection, reading the defense and everything. And when my name got called and I saw that play call to protect, I had to use the best of it.”

That's the case for many younger running backs, going back to Derrick Henry, Shaun Alexander and many others at The Capstone.

Whatever the role Rees has for him, Miller plans to be prepared.

“Only God knows when my time comes,” Miller observed. “I just take a step back, let the older guys do what they’ve got to do. Whenever your name gets called up, you’ve got to be ready. You practice hard every day against the No. 1 defense in the country, and everybody knows when their time comes, they will do their best.”