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Tua Tagovailoa – January 3, 2025 Download PDF version

Friday, January 3, 2025

QB Tua Tagovailoa

(Can you just detail what you’ve been going through since the Houston game, the hip injury, aggravating it and then the two weeks since?) – “Just dealing with that and getting a good gauge of what the doctors are telling me and outside of that, we’ve been able to look at MRIs and keep track of this. So that’s what it is.”

(As you mentioned you’re a gangster. Being a gangster, as much as you want to play this last game, how tough is it to know you may have to sit out with the season on the line for you?) – “Yeah, it’s tough. It’s tough for any competitor to have to sit out when the season is on the line and you know you can do more, but that just tells you how much trust and respect that we have for ‘Snoop’ (Tyler Huntley). The defense has been balling as well, so looking forward to what our guys can do this Sunday and we’ll see how the cards fall and how they play out.”

(What are you experiencing right now in terms of pain, restricted movement, anything like that? What are you experiencing?) – “When it comes to pain, I think I’m good with all of that, but it’s just the restriction of what the doctors are saying I can do. That’s what it is.”

(Do you feel like it could improve to a point where you could play in another week if the team makes the playoffs?) – “Yeah. Yeah, if the cards play out the way they should and the way we know and think they can, I’m going to be available next week. There’s no ifs, ands or buts allowed. I’ll be playing. That’s for sure.”

(What is the injury that you would be at risk of if you were to get God forbid a bad collision in the game? What have doctors told you?) – “I don’t know if anything could be worse than what it is right now, but I don’t know. This is just what the doctors are telling me is right for myself and things of that nature, but I want to be out there. That’s for sure. That’s for sure. I want to be out there, but it’s just a risk for myself to be out there and if something were to happen again, that’s what it is.”

(Has there been much improvement this week? Are you feeling somewhat better?) – “Yeah, feeling a lot better. That’s for sure.”

(Was it something where you thought that you would be able to go out and play last week like you had thought you were at a position where you could play and doctors were like “no, there’s risk of more…”?) – “Yeah, for sure. For sure, I thought I could’ve played last week. Just the doctors said no. That’s all it was.”

(And same thing this week as well doctors have said?) – “Yeah, they’re just trying to give it as much time to heal.”

(What are you telling your teammates now, too, because we still see you out there taking those practice reps as well?) – “Just making sure everyone is locked in, making sure no one is throwing in the towel or whatever. We still have an opportunity. And this is also one of those things where you just show who you are as a teammate, and if you want to be part of the organization next year, when things are hard, you really show who you are. And then when things are not, anybody can act however they want to act, but that just tells us a lot, I would say.”

(Are you frustrated and how are you feeling right now just through all of this kind of going?) – “Hell yeah, I’m frustrated. I’m frustrated. Yeah, I’m frustrated.”

(Considering what happened at Alabama, when this current injury happened, was there any concern in the back of your mind that it was related to what had happened a few years ago?) – “Not necessarily. The one at Alabama was definitely a lot different, but I would say this was probably the more challenging one that I had to go through out of all the injuries with my ankle, playing a week out of surgery, like it wasn’t as bad as what this one feels like.”

(Does this type of thing just take different amounts of time to heal with different people? Have doctors told you if this strain or whatever it is with a muscle like this, it varies in terms of how long people need to recover? Like is there a timetable which the doctors said or do they say it changes depending on the patient?) – “See, it just gets so hard because we’re just given broad – we’re giving you guys broad things about what the injury is.”

(Obviously the cards have to play in order for you guys to make it to next week, but if it ends up being that this is the last week, what are some of the things that you’ve thought through about this season and just if it ends up being that your last game was a couple weeks ago?) – “I think the biggest thing and it has been my thing since last year – obviously the concussions have been a thing and then just off of that, other injuries that have stacked up with the concussions to where I’m missing games. It’s frustrating. That’s the frustrating part and I think that’s something to take into consideration for myself, for the team and just moving forward to stay available for more than one season, that’s for sure. More than one season. And yeah, that’s just the frustrating part about it.”

(So what can you do that you haven’t done already? Is there anything?) – “I think that’s something to think about this offseason. That’s something to talk with coaches, and essentially it just falls on my plate, just protecting myself better and things that I already know.”

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