Jaylen Waddle – October 19, 2023
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Thursday, October 19, 2023
WR Jaylen Waddle
(How does it feel to kind of have an Alabama reunion? I feel like every week is one, but maybe so more this week with nine guys.) – “It’s going to be fun. We got to practice against them last year. I’ve been watching them from afar, so to play in person, it’ll be fun. Lot of ‘Bama guys out there.”
(I know Philadelphia DeVonta Smith has a hamstring injury, are you making sure to tell him to be out there?) – “Nah, one thing about ‘Schmitty (DeVonta Smith) is he a dawg. He’s going to be out there for sure.”
(Do you have a group text going with Alabama guys? Is it multiple positions? Is it just offensive guys?) – “We have a group chat. Mostly our receiver room, everyone who was in our receiver room, so we talk every day. It isn’t really nothing new for us. We haven’t seen each other and keep in touch.”
(How often do you and DeVonta Smith exchange texts? Do you do it after some games? How often do you guys talk still?) – “Oh yeah, like every day, honestly. When they have a game I can watch and we’re not playing, I’ll tune in, tap in, and he is doing his stuff. Pretty often.”
(Are there a lot of texts going back and forth when Alabama is playing?) – “Yeah, definitely. We’re tuned in, tapped in every week. Good, bad, and ugly.”
(It’s wonderful how both of your careers have worked out well. Was it a tough three months before the draft when every draft analyst is dissecting who should a team take between you and DeVonta Smith? Was that something that you joked about at the time? Because it was every day on draft pregame shows.) – “No, not for real. I was in a whole different place then he was. So we were just rolling with the punches at that time. We got to connect on pro day and ended up doing pro day and cheering him on and stuff. Nah, it really wasn’t weird.”
(There’s a lot of talk about how unique this offense is. I know the short motion that we’ve seen WR Tyreek Hill do kind of where a tight end runs out. It seems like some teams have kind of stolen that, have you noticed that across the league or not?) – “I think everybody motions. We do a lot of different motions throughout the week and throughout what y’all see. It’s a copycat league. If they do something we like, we’ll try to put it in. If we do something that other teams like, they’ll try to put it in. That’s just how the league goes.”
(Do you get a sense of pride knowing teams are seeing what you guys do and have success and try to replicate it?) – “Yeah, you can say that.”
(What’s the biggest on-field skill that WR Tyreek Hill has rubbed off on you in your game just from watching him and learning from him?) – “Yeah, Tyreek is a dawg. He just brings that dawg mentality week in and week out. And that’s what you all see. He just stays locked in, for real, throughout the whole game, through practice and all that good stuff. I pretty much learn from him each and every day.”
(Any sort of pressure you guys might be feeling with Sunday Night Football and the atmosphere you’ll be in? What do you expect?) – “No, no pressure at all. We’re going into a hostile environment against a good team. It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be real competitive going in, but I wouldn’t say pressure no.”
(Have you come up with any theories on why WR Tyreek Hill is always cramping?) – “I don’t know. I’ll tell him to drink water. He normally does drink water though.”
(It can’t be that simple though, because I’ve seen WR Tyreek Hill with Pedialyte in his hands.) – “I don’t know. I guess when you’re running that fast, you generate all that power, maybe you just get dehydrated faster than other people, I guess.”
(But you run that fast. I haven’t seen you cramp one time.) – “Yeah, I don’t know. ‘Reek’ (Tyreek Hill), I don’t know. (laughter) That’s a good question though. The people want to know, huh?”
(How many IVs do you take?) – “I’m really not an IV guy, really. I ain’t really an IV guy. I don’t – no. I’m really not.”
(So you think he’s just leaning on the IVs too much?) – “No, not for real because he’s always drinking, always got water next to him. He knows it’s going to be hot, so I wouldn’t even say that, for real. I don’t know, that’s a good question.”
(Can you take us inside the Alabama swag box that was here a week ago?) – “Yeah, we had the shirts, the hats, the winter gear, beanies. They didn’t send us no shoes, but we had the whole shebang. I just seen somebody else’s box, my locker mate, they sent him just a t-shirt and a hat. I said, ‘We don’t get down like that at the Tide.’ You feel me? (laughter) Yeah, they did us right.”
(When QB Tua Tagovailoa threw the pass to WR DeVonta Smith to win the championship, were you committed to Alabama at that time?) – “No.”
(Were you at the game?) – “No.”
(Do you remember watching it on TV?) – “I do remember watching it on TV. I do remember.”
(What did you think?) – “It was a play, man. It was play to be remembered that’s going to be remembered for a long time. But yeah, that was exciting.”
(What did you learn at Alabama about the best way to approach the biggest game?) – “Really just treat it like any other game. There’s no game that’s bigger than the other one. It’s going to be pretty regular.”
