Report: Tua Tagovailoa ‘ready to compete without any restrictions'
Tua Tagovailoa, like every other potential draftee, has seen his pre-draft routine restricted by the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the former Alabama quarterback is no longer being held back by his injured right hip.
According to a report from Yahoo Sports, Tagovailoa’s agent, Chris Cabott of Steinberg Sports and Entertainment, said his client “is fully cleared and ready to compete without any restrictions.”
That comes as Dr. Lyle Cain, an orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at the Andrews Center, said Tagovailoa has progressed nicely after suffering a dislocated hip and posterior hip wall fracture against Mississippi State on Nov. 16.
“I am extremely pleased,” Cain told Yahoo Sports. “If you told me four, almost five, months ago now that he’d be where he is now, I think I would have been very happy. I think he’s done extremely well for where he started out.”
According to the report, Tagovailoa is in the final phase of his recovery, which is getting back into football shape.
“You have to get the muscles around the hip strong because they do atrophy and get weak,” Cain said. “All the muscles that control the pelvis, your trunk and those are all affected. We try to get that back into shape so you can exert force and run and twist, all the activities that come along with football.”
Last week, Tagovailoa shared videos of himself working out over social media. The clips showed the left-hander demonstrating the ability to drop back, move laterally and throw on the run.
Tagovailoa was scheduled to hold a pro day on April 9 but as since seen that called off due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The recent pandemic might now serve as the biggest stumbling block in the quarterback’s draft process as he will need to prove his health to teams without meeting them in person.
Cabot told Yahoo Sports that en lieu of a videoed pro day, Tagovailoa would perform recorded drills at the request of NFL teams. While such requests were not made public, Cabot indicated that he and Tagovailoa were “willing to listen to whatever NFL teams are asking for.”
According to the article, Tagovailoa will likely undergo another round of imaging which will be sent to all 32 teams. One problem the quarterback might run into is that not every NFL team has a hip specialist on staff. According to the article, Cain said there are only five preeminent hip-related specialists in the league who are approved by the NFL Physicians Society. Those doctors will then share their findings with the rest of the league
“So what we’ve tried to do with Tua specifically is reach out to [each of those hip specialists] early and often — and I know them all pretty well personally — and get their advice on treatment,” Cain said. “But we’re also keeping them abreast as we’re going through the process. When teams [met] with Tua, whether it was at the combine or whatever, they’ve already had the consultants tell them what’s going on.”
Tagovailoa is currently considered a potential top-five pick with some analysts projecting him as high as the No. 2 pick overall behind LSU quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow. The NFL Draft is scheduled to begin on April 23.
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