Nick Saban on Jaylen Waddle's Return: "I Have So Much Respect For Him"
MIAMI — Jaylen Waddle wasn't close to being fully healthy in the University of Alabama's 52-24 rout of Ohio State on Monday night inside Hard Rock Stadium, but nevertheless, his impact on the outcome was telling.
From catching a pass on the Crimson Tide's opening drive for a gain of 15 yards which helped set up the touchdown run from tailback Najee Harris to being a 'decoy' and putting stress on an already shaky Buckeyes secondary, his likely final showing with Alabama was a gutsy one.
Not even three full months removed from a fractured ankle suffered in October during the opening kickoff of the Tennessee game, the game plan was to make it as simple as possible for him according to coach Nick Saban.
"I don't think there's any question about the fact that Jaylen was not 100% in the game," Saban said on Tuesday morning. "I think he was 100% fast exploding, straight line. Had a difficult time cutting off of that foot and slowing down. Those are the two things, that decelerating and cutting off of that foot, were the two issues for him.
"We just had a limited plan for him. We really had, like, plays that he could run where he could run in a straight line and didn't have to do a lot of cutting, didn't have to do a lot of route running and changing direction, doing some of the things he's so good at, which is going in motion, running bubbles, orbits, all that kind of stuff."
With Waddle being limited and John Metchie II dealing with a nagging ankle injury as well, Alabama got receiving help from the likes of Slade Bolden and Harris, who had a combined 10 catches for 95 yards and three scores.
Waddle ended up catching two more passes in the third quarter for gains of 13 and six yards, respectively. Offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian’s use of pre-snap motion with Waddle and the other playmakers gave the Buckeyes fits.
"As we lost receivers in the game, Smitty and Metchie went down, that group showed tremendous resiliency in this game to keep the next player coming in and doing a good job," Saban said. "So he probably played a little bit more there in the third quarter than what we anticipated. We wanted 10 or 12 plays. He was medically cleared to play. We knew he wasn't 100%. He knows he's not 100%. But he thought he could contribute to the team. I think he did in a very positive way. He had three catches in the game, and they were all sort of critical type things."
Over the coming days, Waddle and his family have an important decision to make related to his future and if he will forgo his senior year for the NFL.
Saban says he will begin discussing that with him and the slew of other talented underclassman who have the same decision to make this week.
"My hat's off to him," Saban said. "I had the same injury, so I know the difficulties coming back from that. You're healed but your ankle is so stiff, it's difficult to sort of get the flexibility and the flexion back so you can explode like you want to, especially when you drop your weight on that foot, which comes when you're slowing down, trying to make a cut.
"I have a lot of respect for Jaylen Waddle, his mental toughness and his ability to be able to come back."
