Saturday afternoon, Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was carted off the field after suffering what was believed to be a serious hip injury. He was airlifted back to Birmingham for CAT scans and MRIs. According to multiple reports, he is believed to have suffered a hip fracture and is expected to undergo surgery either Saturday night or Sunday morning.
Entering the season, Tagovailoa was expected to be one of the top players in the 2020 NFL Draft, if not the first one off the board. However, this injury now put his future in doubt. Jim Nagy, the executive director of the Reese’s Senior Bowl, even compared this fracture to the career-ending injury suffered by former running back Bo Jackson.
Videos by PopCulture.com
According to Aaron Suttles of The Athletic, Tagovailoa is out for the season with a dislocated hip with a posterior wall fracture. Obviously, Tagovailoa’s future prospects will be unknown until he undergoes surgery, but this injury will be a major concern for the quarterback-needy teams.
Tua Tagovailoa is out for the season after suffering a dislocated hip at Mississippi State, per @AaronSuttles pic.twitter.com/F9QVhaPr0e
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 16, 2019
“It’s kind of a freak thing that you seldom see,” coach Nick Saban said, per ESPN. “He was good, at least as good as he was a week ago in terms of his ability to move. I don’t think anything he did affected his performance in the first half. So the guy played, and I thought he played really well. And we hate it that he got injured.
“We hate it for him. We hate it for his family. I hate it when any player on our team gets injured. So Godspeed to him and his entire family and our thoughts and prayers are with them and hope this is not so serious it has any long-term effect on his future as a player.”
At this point, the difference between Tagovailoa’s situation and that of Jackson is that treatment was not immediately given to the former Raiders running back. He dealt with ruptured blood vessels that caused avascular necrosis.
If Tagovailoa can avoid this similar issue after receiving treatment, he could potentially make a return to the football field. Although nothing is guaranteed at this point.
For now, the Alabama QB will look to get back to full health after undergoing more tests in Birmingham, as well as surgery.
Photo Credit: Wesley Hitt/Getty
