Do we have to deal with injuries again?
This was the dreaded question that fans of the University of Alabama football program thought it had rid itself of after last season, however, head coach Nick Saban’s opening statement following Tuesday’s practice to start the spring semester was a long injury list.
Fear immediately hit social media upon Saban revealing a thumb injury for rising sophomore quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa.
Tagovailoa, a Hawaiian native, was the most valuable player for the Crimson Tide in the 2018 College Football National Championship Game against Georgia.
He took over in the second half for Jalen Hurts, and accounted for 166 passing yards with three touchdowns on 14 of 24 completions. The five-star prospect hooked up with sophomore receiver Devonta Smith for a 41-yard touchdown in overtime, delivering the Tide to a 26-23 victory.
While he is the favorite to win the starting job next season, multiple reports have stated that Tagovailoa is expected to miss at least six weeks (broken bone in hand) and should return to the team in May for summer workouts. He completed 49 of 77 attempts – 63.6 percent – for 636 passing yards with 11 touchdowns to two interceptions through nine games as a freshman.
Hearing @Tuaamann_ will be out approximately six weeks & be fully recovered to participate by May (broken bone in hand) pic.twitter.com/vcdJWP32bT
— Drew DeArmond (@DrewD977ESPN) March 21, 2018
Sources say @Tuaamann_ suffered a broken bone in his throwing hand on the first day of Bama’s practice and is “likely” to miss the remainder of spring drills. Should make full recovery shortly after spring. pic.twitter.com/qcaGjQJaGO
— Griff (@griffsz) March 21, 2018
“Tua hurt his thumb in practice,” Saban said.
“We had to take him to Birmingham to get that evaluated. But, we are going to have to require some time for him to get back. I don’t want to speculate on what the injury might be, but most of the time when these types of things happen it takes a little while for them to come back.”
Anfernee Jennings, a redshirt junior, did not play in the national title game because of a knee injury sustained versus Clemson in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Although his rehab continues to progress well, Saban confirmed the outside linebacker will miss the entire spring.
“We are taking it easy with this injury,” Saban said Tuesday. “It’s something you don’t want to mess around with. He’ll [Anfernee] be full strength by summer.”
Jennings posted 41 tackles, including six for loss and one sack in 11 games. He turned in a marquee performance versus the Tigers, collecting five tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack and a pass deflection that resulted in an interception for defensive lineman Da’Ron Payne.
Josh Jacobs, a junior, played through an ankle injury all of last season.
According to Saban, the elusive running back will return at some point in the spring for positional drills. In terms of how much will Jacobs be able to do, he said that depends on how much the Oklahoma native progresses. Jacobs totaled 452 all-purpose yards (284 rushing, 168 receiving) in 2017 with three touchdowns on 60 touches.
Offensive lineman Matt Womack (foot), defensive back Keaton Anderson (shoulder) and offensive lineman Kendall Randolph (Achilles) all will miss spring practice, per Saban.
“All these guys that we are talking about, some will be back by the end of the spring but everyone will be back by the fall,” Saban said.
Alabama will rest on Wednesday before hitting the practice field on Thursday for its second spring session at 3:30 pm CT.
Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @Smsmith_TDALMag.
