Joe Milton’s game against Texas A&M Saturday was one to forget.

The Vols’ quarterback had just 100 passing yards, a touchdown and an interception. He completed just half of his passes.

On Monday, Josh Heupel didn’t shy away from criticizing the performance, but he also knows that Milton can learn and grow from the game.

“There’s a few things fundamentally that Joe did that causes a couple passes to be a little bit off target,” Heupel said in his press conference Monday. “Couple catches that we gotta make. End of the day, we’ve got to continue to grow. Do have great belief in our guys and where we can get to. When you don’t play your best football, you’ve got to be able to wipe it clean.”

Having a clean slate heading into a new game is huge for quarterback. You have to forget about last week’s performance — good or bad — and focus on the task at hand. That’s what Heupel wants from Milton this week.

“When you play your best football you’ve got to be able to wipe it clean, too,” Heupel said. “At the end of the day, have a routine that takes you to kickoff so that you are putting yourself in a consistent position to go play your best. Joe’s been really mature in how he has prepared. There’s some things fundamentally that he’s done really well that he didn’t do in the last one. We’ve got to be a little bit better in the pass game. That’s him, that’s the wideouts, it’s everybody.”

This Saturday will be a huge chance for Milton to respond to the performance as the Vols take on Alabama.