If you are 6 feet 2 with a 38-inch vertical jump, it should be easy to reach for an item on the top shelf.

If you are wide receiver Vasquez Haynes, whose Hawaii football career has tested HMO limits, ordinary tasks are appreciated.

"I’m back," Haynes said following the second of the Warriors’ 15 spring practices. "I feel normal. I feel like a football player. I feel like a receiver. I’m ready to play."

For the first time in 17 months, Haynes is physically fit to compete in a football practice. Last week, he received medical clearance after extensive rehabilitation from shoulder surgery last August. In Saturday’s opening spring practice, he soared for an acrobatic made-for-Snapchat reception during a seven-on-seven session.

"That catch was unbelievable," said cornerback Ne’Quan Phillips, who was the defender. "To me, it was a top-10 catch. I should have at least (broken it up). He made me look like a baby when he jumped over me and caught it. He’s back."

Haynes said: "I feel good. Everything’s been going well. I haven’t had one step-back. I’ve been battling injuries since I’ve been here. But that’s in the past. That’s all in the past."

Haynes, who played his freshman season at Blinn College in Texas, arrived in Hawaii on July 5, 2013. Two days later, he was on crutches after suffering a sprained ankle.

On the first day of training camp, he suffered an injury to his right shoulder.

He said he aggravated the injury in the middle of the 2013 season.

"From there on out, I couldn’t do too much with it," Haynes said. "I had to play through it."

That meant not sleeping on his right side.

"I couldn’t get things out of the overhead cabinet," he said.

He had hoped physical therapy would strengthen his right arm and alleviate the pain. But just before the 2014 training camp, Haynes opted to undergo surgery.

"I tried to rehab it," Haynes recalled. "I tried to give it a go. It was never going to heal until I went ahead and got it fixed."

Although he would miss the 2014 season, he would not miss a Manoa practice. He was assigned to the "pit," an area where injured players pulled weighted sleds, swung sledgehammers at semi-truck tires, and twirled ropes thick as anacondas. Sometimes he would pull a golf cart that carried strength/conditioning coordinator Gary Beemer; sometimes Beemer’s foot was not on the brake.

"It was hard being in the pit, but it helped my lower body," Haynes said. "I felt like the world’s strongest man (contestant) on TV pulling the sled."

Haynes lost 10 pounds and now weighs 205. His body fat dropped to 9 percent.

Of his first spring practice, Haynes said, "I wasn’t nervous. I played hurt for a whole season. I knew I could play with pain. But there was no pain. I’m strong now. I can push off on it."

Haynes is practicing as a left wideout. He also is focusing on his next sports challenge.

Haynes’ mother and father played basketball at Texas Southern. His father once led the NCAA in scoring. Since first dunking as a ninth-grader, Haynes has not played one-on-one against his father.

"My mom beat me one-on-one," Haynes said, smiling. "She was a player. And she gets sneaky. You can’t do anything with it because she’s my mom. She’s beaten me a couple times."