Alabama star wide receiver and returner Jaylen Waddle was cleared to practice Tuesday and has a shot to play in Monday’s College Football Playoff National Championship Game against Ohio State, Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban told ESPN earlier this week.
Speaking to reporters via Zoom on Thursday, Saban provided the latest on Waddle.
“He has been able to practice some,” Saban said virtually on Thursday morning. “His status for the game is relatively up in the air and will probably be a game-day decision.
“... I don’t have any crystal to know. The issue with injuries is when a guy does practice, how does he respond to the workload? Sometimes if a guy practices one day and gets sore the next, you can’t practice him the next day, so you just keep trying to build up his workload to where he might be able to play. So, that’s a work in progress right now, and you really can’t predict where he might be, and then other guys seem to get stronger, every day they practice, they get a little bit better.
“This is something we’re trying to evaluate but not anything that we can make any kind of prediction on at this point.”
Waddle suffered a fractured ankle against Tennessee on Oct. 24 and hasn’t played in a game since. Although he has been spotted walking without crutches or a boot and catching passes in pregame warmups, the junior has only been able to do dry-land running and has not been able to practice. That changed this week, as Waddle returned to practice on Tuesday.
His Crimson Tide teammates liked what they saw from Waddle in his return to practice.
“It's amazing just to see him recover,” wide receiver DeVonta Smith said Wednesday. “I'm glad that he's recovering well and that everything is just going as planned. I think he's getting back into it. Of course, he's going to take some time just for him to get back comfortable with everything, but he looks good to me.”
In four games, Waddle was responsible for 557 yards and four touchdowns on 25 catches for an average of 22.28 yards per reception. He entered the game against the Vols with four straight 100-yard receiving games. At the time, Waddle ranked fourth nationally in receiving yards and eighth in yards per catch entering the fifth game of the 10-game, SEC-only season.
Should Waddle play against the Buckeyes on Monday, Jan. 11, he would give an already potent Alabama offense another weapon -- or at the very least, a decoy. The Tide enters the College Football Playoff national title game averaging 48.2 points, 349.3 passing yards and 535.0 total offensive yards per game. All three averages rank among the top 10 teams in the nation.
The Buckeyes are preparing as if they will face the electric playmaker from Houston, Texas.
“I think you absolutely have to prepare like he's going to play,” said OSU defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs on Wednesday, “and I would promise you that he's an extraordinary athlete, extraordinary receiver. He played five games, and you watch the tape and he's a special player. My hats off to him. If he's been able to recover and rehab and all those kind of things, I think those stories are great for college football.
“But he's a great player, and you're going to have to account for him on the field, there's no question about that. They just have so many really, really gifted players and receivers on offense. That's another one. So we'll have to prepare and be ready for him.”
Alabama and Ohio State will compete for a national championship Monday night at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT, and the game will air on ESPN.
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