Tua Tagovailoa Suffered 'Setback' On Injured Hand, Per Nick Saban
Nick Saban issued an update on the Tua Tagovailoa injury. It doesn't do much to clarify the Alabama quarterback situation. Tagovailoa has suffered a "setback," according to Saban, after he had returned to spring practice recently. Now, Alabama's quarterback battle is even more likely to stretch out into the summer.
In late March, Tua Tagovailoa broke the index finger on his throwing hand. At first, it was diagnosed as a sprain, and he tried to practice with a heavy glove on. However, it was later revealed as a worse injury. Following the injury, Tagovailoa had surgery on the finger. From KHON2 in Hawaii:
Tagovailoa’s hand hit a teammate during a drill and he was taken to the hospital straight from the practice field. He underwent surgery to his left hand that evening, which was successful, his father said.
Tagovailoa looked pretty good throwing the ball back at practice back on March 27. However, he was behind Jalen Hurts in first team reps, as you'd expect.
We may not be seeing much more of Tagovailoa this spring now, unfortunately. He did not take snaps during today's Alabama practice.
Nick Saban gave some details on the Tua Tagovailoa injury setback today.
It seems extremely unlikely that we have a definitive favorite to be the 2018 starting quarterback after this spring. Via The Tuscaloosa News's Terrin Waack:
“Tua had a little setback yesterday with his hand. Doctors are trying to evaluate the best course of action. … I can’t really tell you anything more. He didn’t take any snaps today. He didn’t that many snaps yesterday.”
Video of Saban's full press conference, from AL.com:
It is unclear what exactly happened. However, with the spring game next week, I wouldn't expect to see much more of Tagovailoa.
We already expected this Alabama quarterback battle to extend deep into the summer. Nick Saban has basically admitted as much earlier in the spring. This new Tua Tagovailoa setback probably guarantees it. As has been the case a few times in recent Alabama seasons, including 2017 when Hurts took over as quarterback, there's a very good chance that a starter doesn't fully take over until a few games into the season.
