Tua Tagovailoa back to ‘100 percent,’ ready for NFL after season-ending hip injury
Former Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, just months after suffering a season-ending hip injury, is back and ready to make the official jump to the NFL later this month in the draft.
Tagovailoa told ESPN on Wednesday that he is “100 percent right now,” and didn’t shut down the thought of playing as a rookie.
“I feel as normal as can be,” Tagovailoa said on ESPN. “I feel like if I had to go out there and perform the same way I did my sophomore year and my junior year, being 100 percent healthy, I feel like I’d be able to go out there and do that [in the NFL].”
Tagovailoa suffered a dislocated hip and posterior hip wall fracture against Mississippi State on Nov. 16. The 22-year-old — who threw for more than 2,800 yards, 33 touchdowns and three interceptions for the Crimson Tide before the injury — has been recovering ever since.
He has released several workout videos on social media in recent weeks, and looks like he’s back to full strength.
Practicing social distancing with the long ball today. Feels good to spin it again. #Process pic.twitter.com/BZnBF7Sfdc
— Tua. T 🇦🇸 (@Tuaamann) March 24, 2020
Tagovailoa’s doctor — Dr. Lyle Cain, a surgeon and sports medicine specialist at the Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center in Alabama — has been thrilled with his patient’s progress.
“I am extremely pleased,” Cain told Yahoo Sports this week. “If you told me four, almost five, months ago now that he’d be where he is now, I think I would have been very happy. I think he’s done extremely well for where he started out.”
Tagovailoa meeting virtually with NFL teams
Where Tagovailoa goes in the draft later this month, or what he ends up doing in his rookie season in the league, remains to be seen. There are still a lot of factors at play, and he can’t meet with any NFL team in person anymore before the draft due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He has virtually met with teams nearly every day.
“It hasn't been a lot of questions as far as how I'm going about doing rehab, or how I'm doing with my health,” Tagovailoa said on ESPN. “It's more so just been football talk. And I've really appreciated it. It's been good.”
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