Tagovailoa healthy
QB’s recovery from injury good news for Tide
HOOVER, Ala. — News that Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa skipped the Manning Passing Academy due a hamstring injury a few weeks ago had Tide fans seeing crimson. There was obvious concern about the health of one of the most important players on the Alabama roster.
But the junior reassured everyone Wednesday the injury was a minor one.
“Thank you guys for caring for me,” Tagovailoa responded when told of fan reaction during SEC Media Days.
While some might see an overreaction, it’s easy to understand how fragile Alabama fans’ psyche may be watching Tagovailoa suffer through a variety of injuries during the past two seasons. He’s been through everything from hamstring pulls to a high ankle sprain that required a special surgery.
A disappointed and wounded Tagovailoa returned home following Alabama’s 44-16 blowout loss to Clemson in the national championship game in Santa Clara, Calif., in early January.
“After the Clemson game, I still had to do rehab. I stayed off my legs as much as I could, so of course you’re going to gain weight and what not,” Tagovailoa said. “When I was able to finally move, it was very important for me to get back into shape.”
Tagovailoa said he sat down with Alabama strength and conditioning coach Steve Cochran in the offseason to create a new workout program that he believes will keep him not only in the best shape possible but also strengthen areas of concern to avoid more injuries.
“Everybody uses the analogy of a car. If you don’t get a tune-up for your car, your car’s not going to work the same way it did when you drove it off the lot,” said Tagovailoa, who lost 15 pounds in the offseason. “The next step for me is getting into the training room and being able to take care of myself in every aspect, whether I’m hurting or not.
“I feel healthier than I did since I’ve gotten to the University of Alabama.”
A healthy Tagovailoa spells good things for an Alabama program looking to get back to the nationalchampionship game for a fifth consecutive season.
Despite the injuries, Tagovailoa finished runnerup to Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray in the Heisman Trophy voting after setting single-season school records for passing yards (3,966) and passing touchdowns (43). Yet Alabama coach Nick Saban sees an opportunity for more growth out of his quarterback.
“Tua is a great competitor, so he’s going to try to make a great play every play and sometimes those things have worked out extremely well and other times they’ve led to some disasters,” Saban said. “So having a little better judgment about when to say when can be an asset.”
Former Alabama quarterback and current ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy saw more of a focus out of Tagovailoa this offseason.
“I get the sense he’s ready to go out and prove himself yet again as he did to start the season last year,” McElroy said.
Alabama opened the 2018 campaign by winning 14 straight games in dominant fashion by an average of nearly 32 points per game. Thirteen of the 14 were by double-digits, with a sevenpoint win over Georgia in the SEC Championship Game the closest contest until the team’s loss to Clemson.
Tagovailoa said while the approach to the 2019 season hasn’t changed, he believes the way last season ended was a wake-up call for him and his teammates.
“Our mantra now for our guys that we have in the leadership group is to never be satisfied,” Tagovailoa said. “Early in the season, we were beating teams by a lot and of course you’re going to feel invincible, but never being satisfied is the way to go for us until we get what we want.”