Alabama would have been gearing up for its seventh spring football practice later this afternoon had it not been for the coronavirus pandemic suspending practices until further notice. But that isn’t stopping Crimson Tide players like Jaylen Waddle from continuing to train.

Now back in his native Houston, Waddle has “aggressively” approached this unprecedented and early offseason as he is working again with Ro Simon Jr., head coach of the Fast Houston 7v7, who has trained the speedy wide receiver since his sophomore year of high school.

“He doesn’t have any practices,” Simon told BamaOnLine, “so it’s up to me to make sure that he’s going to be at peak performance when they get the call to go back.”

Simon has Waddle on a Monday-Friday workout schedule that is similar to what he would be experiencing in Tuscaloosa -- save for the actual football practices. This week started with position-specific drills on a field and focuses on changing direction and agility. On Tuesday, Waddle and the other players moved to a hill for plyometrics and resistance training.

Today is reserved for the sandpit with more change-of-direction and agility drills. Thursday will see Waddle and company back on the field, running routes and emphasizing sustained speed for four quarters, and Friday will finish things off on the hill with some conditioning.

If that seems like a lot, it’s because it is. According to Simon, Waddle has to burn a certain amount of calories and raise his heart rate to a certain level each day. But the now-junior wide receiver and punt returner has been “relentless” in his training away from campus.

“Everybody knows he’s projected to be a first-rounder, right,” Simon said. “But way before he had any accolades or anything, this guy would work out 2-3 times a day. Like if I said, ‘OK, we’ve got to work at 8 a.m. or 6 a.m. and then we get back in the gym to get some stretch work in the middle of the day and at nighttime, we’re going to lift,’ he’ll make all three workouts. He’ll be the only one there. He’s actually the first one there and last one to leave.

“This guy has a relentless focus on the work. He’s among the best.”

As a sophomore in 2019, Waddle caught 33 passes and turned them into 560 yards and six touchdowns in 2019. He led the nation in punt return average at 24.4 yards per return with 20 returns for 487 yards and a touchdown, including a long of 77 yards. He also returned five kickoffs for 175 yards and a touchdown and added one rush for five yards, giving him 1,227 all-purpose yards, which ranked third on Alabama’s roster a season ago.

His speed was on full display throughout the Crimson Tide’s 2019 campaign, but one area of Waddle’s game that Simon believes is the most impressive is oftentimes overlooked.

“Everybody loves his quickness and change of direction and speed, but his hands, man. It’s very seldom that he’s going to drop the ball,” Simon said. “The only reason why people really don’t know that is because he hasn’t been targeted a lot. But in this season, people will see that he’s a great receiver, as well as a return specialist. The biggest asset that he has is he can go catch the football. He creates separation and catches the football.

“That’s why he’ll potentially be a first-round draft pick, and a lot of people are going to see it.”

But are there areas that the 5-foot-10, 182-pound wideout can still improve?

“His durability,” Simon said. “Being able to go over the middle, get hit. Of course, he’s tough enough, but his body isn’t that big. He’s not really a big guy. He kind of measures his toughness by how many times you get hit, being able to get up consistently and being able to be on the field for a full season. He hasn’t had that at Alabama yet. He hasn’t had to take all those hits and catch all those balls and do all that yet.

“I’ve been tailoring his workouts to make sure his quads and hamstrings and his shoulders, hips and back are strong enough so if he does catch a slant and a linebacker hits him, he’ll be good to go. If they give him a jet sweep and a D-tackle hits him, he’ll be good to go.”

While players are away from school due to the coronavirus, Simon will gradually progress his plan for his pupil. Soon, he will be work on sending Waddle in motion and “making sure we’re running the same amount of yards coming out of his breaks as they do at Alabama.”

“That way he’ll be ready to go,” Simon said. “There won’t be any setbacks.”

Although Waddle has been a big part of the Alabama offense the last two years, he will see that role increase this fall with the departures of starters Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III. With what will likely be more opportunities, Simon is expecting big things from Waddle in 2020.

“Biletnikoff Award. All-American. I expect him to put up over 1,000 yards,” Simon said. “That’s exactly what Alabama’s been doing the last 7-8 yards since Julio Jones was there. And then Amari Cooper and all those guys, Calvin Ridley, Jerry Jeudy and Ruggs. I think him and (DeVonta Smith) will duplicate it.”

Contact Charlie Potter by personal message or on Twitter (@Charlie_Potter).