Alabama’s recovery and return specialist Jaylen Waddle’s status remains “in the air” for Monday’s National College Football Playoff Championship against Ohio State, coach Nick Saban said on Thursday.
Saban said Waddle trained this week, but it will likely be a decision on game day.
“I don’t have any crystal balls to know,” Saban said.
Waddle suffered a combination of a raised ankle sprain and a fracture against Tennessee in mid-October and has not appeared in a game since.
Teammates John Metchie and DeVonta Smith said Waddle has looked good since returning to training this week, but neither would predict if he would be ready to play against the Buckeyes on Monday (8 pm ET, ESPN).
Waddle is considered one of the most dynamic football players in college.
The Houston junior opened this season with at least 120 yards receiving in each of the first four games and led Alabama 557 yards on just 25 catches with four touchdowns. He was also one of the best returnees of the nations; his 733 yards return for an average of 19.3 yards in his three seasons, ranking sixth in Alabama history.
Regardless of whether Waddle is available, Saban has expressed optimism that Monday’s game will be played on schedule.
Saban said that “there were some problems with COVID” that led to discussions earlier this week about moving the game. CFP announced last week on January 18 as a potential makeup date for the national game
College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock, Alabama officials and SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey told ESPN on Tuesday that they are committed to playing Monday. .
“Our school starts next week,” Saban said. “We would have had 35,000 students return here [to South Florida for the game]. We played 12 games this year, so we have a lot of guys who won the season, a lot of guys who are a little cheated. Another week of training would have been much more difficult for those boys, probably. “
He also cited the January 18 deadline for members of the lower classes to testify for the NFL project.
“So the whole period of the whole thing would have been tough management,” Saban said. “But I would have put the safety of the players in both teams as the most important factor in this decision.”