Will Alabama’s Christian Miller play against Clemson? Here’s the latest

Alabama senior linebacker and Columbia native Christian Miller is unsure if he will be healthy enough to play in the national championship game against Clemson, but he certainly isn’t giving up on the idea of being ready for Monday night’s showdown.

“I’m taking it day by day and just doing whatever I can to keep improving,” Miller said Saturday at Media Day for the national title game. “I’ve worked really hard to get to this point. I have a commitment to this team. All of these guys are my brothers. So I’m going to do everything I can to be the best that I can be.”

Miller starred at Spring Valley High School in Columbia before heading to Alabama to play for Nick Saban.

That decision has worked out well for the 6-foot-4, 244 pound linebacker. Miller is having his best season yet as a redshirt senior and has recorded 36 tackles with 11.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks.

He is third on the Alabama defense in tackles for loss, second in sacks and is tied for the team lead in quarterback pressures with 12. Miller would love to be able to suit up one final time for the Crimson Tide and help Alabama to another national title.

“Nobody said I was out. It’s not ‘If I do get to play.’ Nobody said I was out,” Miller said. “I’ve progressed really well. I feel good... We’re going day-by-day.”

Miller was helped off the field during the Orange Bowl against Oklahoma after suffering a hamstring injury. He described the pain he felt that night during media day.

“I was down. You don’t ever see me down do you? I tore my bicep and I wasn’t down. If you pull a hamstring trust me you’ll understand. A tweak is a tweak, a pull is a pull,” Miller said. “So you can probably look that stuff up and you’ll understand. But it ain’t fun. But it’s part of the sport. It ain’t nothing serious. I mean I’m fine. But at the time yeah it was not fun when it happened.”

Miller is 2-1 during his career against Clemson, beating the Tigers as a redshirt freshman in the 2015 national title game and again last year in the Sugar Bowl. The Crimson Tide lost to Clemson during the 2016 title game.

After facing Deshaun Watson twice early on during his career, Miller will now get his first look at Trevor Lawrence.

“They’re totally different guys. Obviously they both have really talented arms. But they’re totally different to me,” Miller said. “They both have very talented arms, can make one-of-a-kind throws. They’re both great competitors and it’s going to be a challenge.”

This story was originally published January 5, 2019 at 3:39 PM.