Is Miami Dolphins quarterback target Tua Tagovailoa injury-prone? His surgeon weighs in
The structural integrity of Tua Tagovailoa’s injured right hip is the No. 1 fascination of next week’s NFL Scouting Combine, but it won’t be the only part of his reconstructed body under the microscope.
Remember, he had surgery on both ankles the last two years, undergoing a groundbreaking procedure known as the Knotless Syndesmosis TightRope. If it sounds futuristic, that’s because it is.
Basically it fixes high-ankle sprains in a matter of days or weeks, not months. Tears to the tendon that connect the fibula (the bone on the outside of the ankle) and the tibia (the bone on the inside) can derail a season. But the tightrope stabilizes the area with two metal brackets and a synthetic rope.
Ultimately, Tagovailoa missed a total of one game despite twice suffering midseason high-ankle sprains, thanks in large part to the work of Alabama surgeon Norman Waldrop, of the famed Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center.
So Waldrop, who will be a featured panelist at the NaplesNEXT Ideas Festival in early March, knows Tagovailoa’s medical history as well as anyone. And he believes the narrative that Alabama’s phenom quarterback — and possible Dolphins first-round target — is injury-prone is simply wrong.
“I understand where it comes from,” Waldrop told the Miami Herald Friday. “But he’s had some pretty significant injuries that don’t have anything more to do with him than the particular nature of the plays that occurred. While I certainly get everyone’s worries from the medical side, I have zero concerns because of his willingness to work. He’s passed every test with bells and whistles.”
Waldrop, who spoke recently with Tagovailoa, added: “He’s doing great. I have no reason to think that he’s not going to have anything but an exceptional recovery [from his hip injury]. I think Tua is an exceptional person first, an exceptionally hard worker second. Football ability is only a part of what makes him a transcendent athlete and I’m pretty excited to see how that translates to the NFL. He can throw a football through a thimble. He’s more than just an incredible quarterback. He’s a great person. He’s never let any of his injuries set him back. I don’t have any reason to think that he will have any setbacks going forward.”
To be fair, Waldrop did not perform the surgery to repair Tagovailoa’s dislocated and fractured hip. But if the Dolphins — or any NFL team — ask for his opinion about Tagovailoa’s current health or long-term prospects, he will give a glowing recommendation.
Next week is a critical moment in Tagovailoa’s career. League-affiliated doctors will get their first opportunity to examine his hip and ankles, with a full range of imaging expected.
Lingering concerns about Tagovailoa’s rehab and his troubling history of getting hurt have raised questions at the very top of the Dolphins organization whether or not they should be their future on him.
“He’s a great player,” Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said last month. “I just worry about his health.”
Waldrop does not share those concerns.
If asked, he’ll say as much at NaplesNEXT, which is in its second year and will be held March 2-3. The keynote speaker is General John F. Kelly, the former chief of staff for President Donald Trump.
