Tua Tagovailoa’sankle was a major storyline ahead of No. 5Alabama’sgame on Saturday atMississippi State. His health will continue to be a storyline moving forward as Tagovailoa had to be carted off the field in the first half after taking a nasty hit.
Tagovailoa was unable to put any weight on the right side of his body after injuring his right hip. He was reportedly “screaming in pain” when being removed from the cart in the locker room area, according to ESPN sideline reporter Molly McGrath. Trainers also treated Tagovailoa for a bloody nose suffered when his facemask hit the turf head-on.
“He hurt his hip. I don’t know anything more than that. … That was going to be his last series. We were going to do 2-minute before the half with him, just for practice,” coach Nick Saban said at halftime.
Tagovailoa was playing well to that point and looked OK after he gritted through last week’s 46-41 loss to No. 1LSU. At the time of his injury, he was 14 of 18 for 256 yards passing and two touchdowns. Bama had a 35-7 lead with touchdowns on its first five possessions, and Saban made it clear Tagovailoa was on his way to being pulled from the game.
Saban will undoubtedly receive a ton of questions about the decision to play Tagovailoa — at all and especially that late into the second quarter given the score.
Mac Joneswill play for the Crimson Tide moving forward. He had one start this season previously againstArkansaswhen Tagovailoa was initially unavailable to play because of his high-ankle sprain. Jones was solid against the Razorbacks, going 18 of 22 for 235 yards passing and three touchdowns. Jones was possibly going to start on Saturday against the Bulldogs since Tagovailoa was listed as a game-time decision.
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