Tua Tagovailoa back in Alabama for more tests on hip injury – ESPN, Espn.com

AlabamaquarterbackTua Tagovailoawas carted off in the second quarter of Saturday’s game againstMississippi Statewith a hip injury. He was airlifted back to Birmingham for CAT scans and MRIs.

Tagovailoa was injured with three minutes remaining before halftime when he was brought down by two Bulldogs defenders while rolling to his left on a third -down play. He suffered a bloody nose and couldn’t put pressure on his right leg when he was helped up by trainers.

A source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that there was concern before the end of the game that it was a “very serious” injury.

Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said he doesn’t know the severity of the injury but that he doesn’t think it’s related to the ankle injury that made Tagovailoa a game-time decision for Saturday’s game. “It’s kind of a freak thing that you seldom see,” he said.

“He was good, at least as good as he was a week ago in terms of his ability to move , “Saban added. “I don’t think anything he did affected his performance in the first half. So the guy played, and I thought he played really well. And we hate it that he got injured. We hate it for him. I hate it when any player on our team gets injured. So Godspeed to him and his entire family and our thoughts and prayers are with them and hope this is not so serious it has any long-term effect on his future as a player . “

Saban told ESPN’s Molly McGrath that it was going to be Tagovailoa’s final drive of the game. Saban said Tagovailoa was still in the game to practice a two-minute drill.

“That was going to be his last series,” Saban said. “We were going to do two-minute before the half was over just for practice. First, we’ve got to block them better so he doesn’t get sacked. It’s too bad.”

McGrath reported that Tagovailoa was undergoing X-rays. McGrath also reported that Tagovailoa was screaming in pain as trainers helped lift him off the cart.

The Tide were leading 35 – 7 at the time of the injury. Tagovailoa was 14 – for – 18 for 256 yards with two touchdowns.

Saban said the coaching staff considered putting backup quarterbackMac Jonesinto the game for Tagovailoa before the final series .

“We can second-guess ourselves all we want,” Saban said. “We told Mac to warm up. We were going to go 2-minute before the half, and Tua wanted to go in the game. So I don’t really make a lot of decisions about guys getting hurt. … We had total confidence in Mac, and Mac did a good job when he went in. “

Tagovailoa, a Heisman Trophy contender and potential top – 10 pick in next spring’s NFL draft, had surgery on his right ankle Oct. 20, a day after he was injured in the Crimson Tide’s 35 – 13 victory overTennessee.

Surgeons performed a “tightrope” procedure on his right ankle, in which they drilled a hole from his fibula into the tibia and cast three tightropes through the bone and cinched it down to tighten it, according to Dr. Norman Waldrop, who was part of the medical team that performed a tightrope procedure on Tagovailoa’s left ankle following the SEC championship game last season.

Tagovailoa missed Alabama’s 48 – 7 win overArkansason Oct. 26 but returned to start against (LSU) last week. His mobility was limited, but he still completed 21 of 40 passes for 418 yards with four touchdowns and one interception in the Crimson Tide’s 46 – 41 loss to the Tigers.

“The way I look at this whole thing is, Tua’s our No. 1 quarterback and if he’s physically able to play we want to play him in the game, “Saban said when asked about the value of putting him in the game when ahead by 28 points. “That’s what he wanted to do, and that’s what our team wanted to do. If I would have known – knowing that anything bad was going to happen, certainly I wouldn’t have put him in that situation. team. We’re a team that’s trying to get better … to see if we can finish the season the way we want. “