TUSCALOOSA -- His teammates have already noticed it.

Several of Alabama’s veterans showered true freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts with praise for his poise and leadership Monday in the Crimson Tide’s first two games of 2016, which were two wins Hurts saw the most first-team reps.

And Wednesday, in his final press conference of the week, Alabama head coach Nick Saban shared his players’ sentiment on the freshman when asked what he’s seen from Hurts to believe can handle a raucous SEC road environment.

“The one thing that I like about Jalen is that he’s got a good disposition about playing the next play,” Saban said. “We’re going through a learning curve with him to get him to be confident and understand and make choices and decisions that are going to be beneficial to him and the offense. It’s going to be a work in progress, but the thing that I like about him is that he doesn’t get frustrated. He doesn’t get all discombobulated. He has a lot of poise.”

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Through two games, Hurts has thrown for 405 yards, four touchdowns and one interception on 29-of-47 passing (61.7 percent) after enrolling early in January. He also scored two touchdowns with his legs. Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze said the first two things that “jump off the page” about the first-year signal caller were his athleticism and accuracy with the deep ball.

But the first two games occurred in either a neutral site or on the Tide’s home field. This week Hurts and Alabama will open SEC play at the Rebels’ Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Sound has been used this week in the Crimson Tide’s practices to help the freshmen -- including Blake Barnett -- in what will be the toughest challenge to date for the entire Alabama team.

As the offense broadens around him, Hurts will look to lock up the starting job -- and the win -- in his first true road test this weekend while he continues to develop as a leader in the huddle, on the field and in Alabama’s locker room.

“I think he has a lot of inner confidence,” Saban said of Hurts. “He believes that he can do it. It’s important to him. He wants to do it. We have to trust that that’s going to help him develop and do the kind of things that he needs to do. We’re going to support him to do everything in this game that he needs to do and if Blake has to play, we’re going to support him as well.”

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