It’s one of the worst things that can happen in professional sports, both from a competition and a draft standpoint. Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa left Saturday’s game against Mississippi State on a cart with an apparent right hip injury and a bloody nose. He was rushed to the hospital immediately. Sources are now reporting to multiple outlets that Tua has a posterior wall fracture and will miss the remainder of the college football season. Pro Football Network’s injury expert Dr. Duane Scotti has informed us that if this is, in fact, his injury, then the star quarterback could be looking at screws being put in and recovery becomes infinitely
Dr. Duane Scotti had previously reported that based on the video, he believed Tua suffered a posterior hip dislocation.
“Based on the video, it is most likely a posterior hip dislocation which takes 2-3 months to heal due to the risk of dislocating again. He has to be non-weight bearing throughout most of that time.
They will limit his motion for a time period to prevent this. Recovery will be longer if there are any fractures that occurred during the dislocation. The concern is obviously for any blood vessel tears.”
Adam Schefter tweeted that sources believe the injury could be considered very serious.
Tua Tagovailoa was airlifted to St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Birmingham. Nick Saban called it a hip injury that was possibly “serious” in on-field interview at halftime. Source says there was concern before end of game it was a “very serious” injury. MRI and scans next.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 16, 2019
Tagovailoa already missed time earlier this season with an injury. With the potential severity of this injury, you wonder if he will play again this season or if this game was ultimately his last as the starting quarterback for Alabama.
Here’s the play where Tua Tagovailoa got injured and then carted off.
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) November 16, 2019
The San Diego Tribune’s Dr. David Chao confirms what our injury expert believes and is reporting that the injury is possibly a posterior hip dislocation. They went on to say:
“The hope is the team doctors could immediately reduce the hip in the locker room, as that would significantly reduce the pain and potentially decrease his recovery time. This is not always possible to do, and it was not surprising to hear a report of him going to the hospital. He may have had to have a reduction done under anesthesia or even via surgery. If he can avoid associated fracture, he might have a better chance of a return to play in the NFL. But his season is over.
Unfortunately, this injury can have long-term implications even without fracture, as the blood flow to the femoral head can be disrupted leading to avascular necrosis where the bone and then cartilage dies out becomes arthritic. Quick action with reduction will lessen this risk.”
If this was it for Tagovailoa, he would at least go out with some good numbers in his last game. He was 14/18 for 256 yards and two touchdowns as Alabama took a 35-7 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Mac Jones has had to come in to replace Tua already once this season against Arkansas. He was serviceable in that game with three touchdown passes.
As far as what’s down the line, Alabama has two games remaining in the regular season. There won’t be any concerns next week against Western Carolina. However, they then have the Iron Bowl on the road against Auburn.
Jones obviously has the benefit of a number of NFL caliber offensive weapons and showed enough talent in his first start. But that was against Arkansas, who has since fired Chad Morris. If Tua is to miss time, it will be a huge test for Jones to not only keep the offense afloat but try and save Alabama’s playoff hopes. Their playoff hopes are hanging on by a thread since the Tide lost to LSU last week. It’s not a significant drop off in talent at quarterback, but it’s a noticeable one.
As for Tagovailoa, the focus now could very well be just resting and preparing for the NFL Draft. He may not be the consensus number one pick anymore, but he will undoubtedly go in the top five, even top two or three. The hope is that the injury is not significant. Fans everywhere are holding their breath to see how long he will actually be out and if perhaps this was, in fact, his final game with the Tide.