Heisman hopeful Tua Tagovailoa is expected to miss at least one game after he was knocked out of Saturday’s 35-13 win over Tennessee with a right ankle sprain.
Sources close to the team believe that Tagovailoa is dealing with a high ankle sprain, which as we saw with Saquon Barkley, can sideline even the most athletic players for at least a few weeks. Barkley returned after just three weeks away, but a more standard timeline for high ankle sprains is 4-8 weeks. The top-ranked and undefeated Alabama Crimson Tide are expected to breeze past Arkansas even in Tua’s absence, then they have a bye before a November 9th showdown against #2 ranked LSU. Needless to say, all eyes will be on whether Tua can get back on the field three weeks after his injury to play in the biggest game of the season to date.
The good news for Tua is that it doesn’t seem to be a severe high ankle sprain. Unlike Barkley, Tua stayed in the game and completed a pass on the next play before eventually leaving the game at a time out. After a short evaluation in the medical tent, he limped off to the locker room and was ruled out of the game at halftime.
Not His First Ankle Issue
This isn’t the first time we’ve had our eyes on Tua’s ankles. As we discussed in the lead up to last year’s national championship game against Clemson, Tua’s left ankle was one of the main talking points. Tua suffered a high ankle sprain on his left ankle during the SEC championship against Georgia and underwent a “tightrope” procedure to strengthen the ligaments in his ankle. This procedure actually helped him return to the field sooner, and he was able to play in the College Football Playoff semifinal win over Oklahoma.
It seems like this injury is less severe than the ankle injury he suffered last season, and this time it’s on his right ankle, so there’s no damage to his surgically addressed ankle ligaments. To learn more about that innovative surgical technique and how it impacted the college football landscape last season, check out this blog post.