TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) Alabamas team surgeon said Tua Tagovailoas prognosis was excellent after the quarterback underwent surgery to repair a dislocated hip, although there is no timeline for Tagovailoas recovery.
Dr. Lyle Cain said Tagovailoa is expected to recover fully after Mondays surgery in Houston probably the best possible news the QB could have received about the devastating season-ending injury, which has cast a cloud over his football future.
The 2018 Heisman Trophy runner-up, Tagovailoa emerged as a likely high draft pick possibly No. 1 overall with fans of downtrodden NFL teams using the Twitter hashtag Tankfortua to show their hopes of getting the QB in the draft.
If Tagovailoa does decide to enter the draft, its unclear how the injury will affect how teams evaluate him.
SABAN isnt publicly speculating on Tagovailoas prospects.
Our concern is about him getting healthy, the coach said. This is going to be a long recovery for him, but we fully expect a full recovery. No ones really speculating or talking about whats best for him to do in the future. My only concern is that he can do whats best for him in his future. I dont know if right nows the time to be thinking about that, when youre thinking about the guys health and well-being and recovery.
Saban pointed out that New York Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley also dislocated a hip in the national championship game to end the 2011 season.
And hes come back and had a very successful career, the coach said. Thats basically all I can tell you about it.
Dr. Michael Stover, an orthopedic surgeon at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, said he has performed similar surgeries on high school athletes and one pro football player, an offensive lineman. He said theres not enough data to project a timetable on a skill player like Tagovailoa, but he was cautiously optimistic.
He has a chance to return to sports, Stover said. I would be hesitant to say at what level.
Tagovailoa passed for 7,442 yards and a school-record 87 touchdowns in less than two full seasons as Alabamas starter. He presided over a remarkable transformation of the once-staid Crimson Tide offense. A five-star recruit from Hawaii, he capped his freshman season by coming off the bench to lead a second-half comeback win over Georgia in the national championship game, throwing the winning touchdown in overtime.
SEC Network analyst and former Tide quarterback Greg McElroy believes Tagovailoa has two things in his favor: medical advances and a positive attitude.
You are in a much better position today in 2019 to come back from a catastrophic injury than at any other point in history, McElroy said.
He cited former Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith, another coveted NFL prospect who recovered from a potentially career-ending knee injury and wound up being a second-round draft pick by the Dallas Cowboys in 2016. In August, Smith received a $64 million, five-year extension.
