🏈 Positive Tua update from Saban...expected to start practice again mid-week

[bamaledge]

Great news. Watching the first quarter of crap football in “Death Valley” in the annual feline hissy fit of the west division, and I am thoroughly unimpressed so far. Maybe he won’t be pushed too hard in a couple of weeks.

Shhhhhh, don’t say stuff like that.

 

[#80]

The word was Tua was suppose to be non-weight bearing for 10 days after surgery. He looks to be walking around in that boot very well.
So you would have to say ahead of schedule.

 

[Sgt. Lincoln Osiris]

Post game update tonight

 

[Bama Guy]

" Smitty (DeVonta Smith) has a bruised shoulder and may miss a couple of days but think he will be OK. " As tough as our receivers play, I am surprised they don't have more injuries. Most of them are a little on the skinny side.

 

[BAMANEWSBOT]

Nick Saban expects midweek return to practice for Tua Tagovailoa - College Football | NBC Sports

Maybe there won't be much drama after all ahead of LSU? Stay tuned, though. Just in case.

collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com

Maybe there won’t be much drama after all?

With top-ranked Alabama crushing Arkansas and second-ranked LSU doing what it needed to hold off Auburn, Week 9 officially set the stage for a No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown between the Tide and the Tigers in Week 11. As we get set to embark on 14 days of unrelenting, breathless hype, though, the overriding individual storyline will surely be Tua Tagovailoa‘s availability.

The Tide’s starting quarterback and at-one-point Heisman Trophy frontrunner, Tagovailoa suffered a high-ankle sprain in the win over rival Tennessee last weekend and didn’t play Saturday in the blowout win over the Hogs. Following surgery, the junior’s return to the playing field has been a fluid situation.

Following the blowout of the Razorbacks, and saying he’s “doing really, really well,” Nick Saban gave a startlingly-positive update on his starter’s rehab progress.

“We expect him to return to practice by midweek this week,” the head coach said. “I don’t know what he’ll be able to do or how much. But that’s sort of the prognosis for where we are right now.”

The fact that Tagovailoa will return to practice in some form or fashion 10 days or so ahead of the latest Game of the Century would seemingly indicate that that particular storyline has already been played out.

Stay tuned, though. Just in case.

 

[Sgt. Lincoln Osiris]

 

[JoshB]

Tua covering up that ankle in the picture...

 

[TerryP]

Tua covering up that ankle in the picture...

The equipment/devices.

 

[JoshB]

 

[TerryP]

 

[TerryP]

 

[RollllTide!]

Corndogs be wondering

 

[Bamabww]

Corndogs be wondering

Coach O be mumbling......

 

[18Champs]

Will Tua play, and should he play? - The Tuscaloosa News

Will Tua play, and should he play?





At this point in Tua Watch 2019, the willhe- or-won’t-he drama (or diversion) of whether Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will play against No. 1 LSU on Nov. 9, all the available physical evidence has been discussed by everyone from Nick Saban to a team of doctors from the Swedish Institute of Stockholm — well, maybe not them although “Swedish Institute” always sounds impressive. Doctors who have not been within a thousand miles of Tuscaloosa have given their opinion, to say nothing of all of the couch MD’s who also are on the case. People who can barely change a lightbulb (my hand is raised) can explain tightrope surgery in “Grey’s Anatomy” detail.

So on Wednesday, with Tua practicing against “air,” as Nick Saban said, the speculators did the same. After all, there are not only the physical realities to be dealt with. There are also psychological ones, and even philosophical ones, a thorny path that winds past questions like “Will he play?” to the land of “Should he play?”

Nick Saban addressed both on Wednesday, without changing the prognosis from the constant “Game Day Decision.”

“I know he’s going to want to play,” Saban said. “What I always say to the player is “I know you want to play, but can you do your job?” … and nobody knows that but the player.

“Tua has always done everything around here that he can actually do to help the team. He’s always made great choices and decisions. He’s smart. He’s bright. And I don’t think he would put himself into a position nor would we want to put him in a position going forward where what he does would have any effect on his future.”

That was part of a longer answer about whether Tagovailoa’s future might be better protected by skipping the SEC Game of the Year — or playing in it.

“I wouldn’t care if a guy was a first-round pick or had no future as a player,” Saban said. “We would never put a player at risk if the medical staff, the player himself and everybody involved in the organization didn’t think the guy was capable of going out there and doing his job at a high level. It wouldn’t create any value for him and it certainly wouldn’t help us.

“We’ve had a lot of players around here who have gone and done extremely well for themselves in the NFL and been high draft picks. But I guess the question would be did they create value for themselves by being great competitors?”

“People still value guys who want to make the best decision about what they do. I know in the eight years I was in the (NFL), people always said ‘the warrior mentality — this guy’s really tough, he plays hard and things don’t bother him, he’s not going to be on the sidelines if he gets a little nicked up.’ I’m not saying every player is capable of that and I’m not saying every player is like that. But the question is ‘what really creates value for you?’ If you can’t go out there and play with any consistency and you don’t have any durability as a player, is that a positive or a negative? So there’s another side of that and I don’t really try to promote that with the players but I’m just saying there is another side to all this.”

There are, in fact, several sides, questions that only time —nine more days for some of the questions, perhaps nine more months for some of the others — can answer. Reach Cecil Hurt at cecil@tidesports.com or via Twitter @cecilhurt

“I wouldn’t care if a guy was a first-round pick or had no future as a player. We would never put a player at risk if the medical staff, the player himself and everybody involved in the organization didn’t think the guy was capable of going out there and doing his job at a high level.” Nick Saban

 

[JoshB]

Tua does not seem like the kind of person that would "sit out" a game he was healthy enough to play in, nor does Saban seem like the coach that would just let that ride with a leader of the team. There's a reason - even when Alabama isn't in the playoffs - we don't see Alabama players sit out bowl games like other schools see. Imagine Julio, Dareus and Ingram sitting out the Capital One Bowl in 2010. Sounds unfathomable.

 

[TerryP]

You can't take a lot from the video here but a few things I can share from someone who watched him extensively yesterday.

The video here is during warmups so you're not going to see a lot. When he was watched closely he was constantly throwing passes 25-30 yards down the field on a "zip line."

I've seen a few mention/ask "can he put any weight on it?" One, even with the limited video a QB can't do that without putting weight on his ankle. In the footwork drills he was moving well. "There didn't appear to be any limitations." No. He's not going to be 100%. But he looked very good yesterday.

Low wasn't limited to just the media viewing period. He was one of a few that were allowed to watch the entire practice. He reported ...

 

[mando]

Still looks to be favoring the leg slightly when he is rotating and dropping back. Maybe he is being cautious when he is doing a motion that puts some torque on the ankle. Would be nice to see him operating in a live situation.

 

[Elderfalsedemigod]

JMO Gotta keep him clean. In my minds eye I can see them diving at his legs. As much as I want UA to win this game, I do not want to see him take a shot to that leg/ankle. As far as the video he looks just a little "stiff" on that leg but overall the video is pretty positive

 

[Justneedme81]

JMO Gotta keep him clean. In my minds eye I can see them diving at his legs. As much as I want UA to win this game, I do not want to see him take a shot to that leg/ankle. As far as the video he looks just a little "stiff" on that leg but overall the video is pretty positive

I agree. He looked stiff for a second... but he should loose up before week is over.

 

[#80]

Still looks to be favoring the leg slightly when he is rotating and dropping back. Maybe he is being cautious when he is doing a motion that puts some torque on the ankle. Would be nice to see him operating in a live situation.

That's to be expected. He still has 4 more days of treatment and healing. I would expect him to be at 80-85% by game time.
The OL needs to play their ass off for him.