Tua Tagovailoa injury update: Expected to make full recovery, throw in the spring

Alabama Crimson Tide starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had hip surgery this morning. He is expected to make a full recovery and could throw this spring.

It was tough to watch, but the Alabama Crimson Tide have no choice but to move on for the rest of the season after starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa dislocated his hip on Saturday afternoon vs. the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Mac Jones will fill in for Tagovailoa in the Crimson Tide’s remaining games, as Tagovailoa begins the rehabilitation process from his latest injury.

According to ESPN’s Laura Rutledge, Tagovailoa had a successful surgery in Houston on Monday morning and is expected to make a full recovery. Tagovailoa’s doctor, Dr. Lyle Cain, says the injury was not as severe as what ruined Bo Jackson‘s career with the then-Los Angeles Raiders. By not playing on it as Jackson did, this will help Tagovailoa on the way to recovery.

Rutledge’s ESPN colleague Adam Schefter reported “Tua Tagovailoa will be on a partial weight-bearing recovery plan for six weeks and will be rehabbing daily in Tuscaloosa…Then, in three months, he will be able to begin athletic activity again, and by the spring, he is expected to be able to resume throwing.”

Being able to throw by this spring will do wonders for Tagovailoa’s NFL Draft stock if he were to leave Alabama after his junior year and go pro. Of course, Tagovailoa could spend the entire spring and summer rehabbing before returning to the Crimson Tide for his senior season. That being said, if he still has the shot at going in the top half of the first round, he should forgo his senior year.

Obviously, a hip injury is about the last thing you’d want to see happen to a potential franchise quarterback. This is because the signal-caller uses his hips to drive the football down the field. Without being able to lock and load, you’re only giving yourself the opportunities to make short to medium throws in the passing game. In essence, you can’t throw all arm and have success.

Overall, Tagovailoa’s recovery from hip surgery will be of great intrigue throughout the last few weeks of 2019 and the better part of 2020. How he recovers will decide his football future. Will he become a star in the NFL like we all thought he would be? Or will he end up being a college star whose body didn’t hold up long enough for all that undeniable potential to be realized?

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