Tua Tagovailoa talks about #TankforTua and reveals important medical information
Tua Tagovailoa was aware of #TankforTua once it became a social media battle cry for Miami Dolphins fans the past year. And he loved it.
“I’ve been aware of that, not from my own knowledge but from the knowledge of my teammates,” Tagovailoa told reporters during a break in the NFL Combine Monday morning. “My teammates would tell me, ‘Hey bro, look at this, the Dolphins want you. I’d be flattered.
“As a kid growing up, that’s like a dream, to have an organization want you -- especially with the fans there. You get support from the fans, that makes it big-time.”
That’s cool. But for the social media movement to become reality, it would help if Tagovailoa fully recovers from the dislocated and fractured hip he suffered last November, which ended his career at the University of Alabama.
And on that note, Tagovailoa was asked if his doctors have told him they’re confident he’ll be as good after his recovery as he was before the injury.
“Yeah, my doctors have said that,” Tagovailoa said. “And I’m confident, yes sir.”
Tagovailoa, one of the top quarterback prospects in this year’s draft despite an extensive injury history that includes the hip, said he reported for his NFL sanctioned medical examination here at 10 a.m. Monday morning. He wasn’t finished until exactly 7:49 in the evening.
“I was the last person to come out -- just in time for the informal and formal interviews,” he said.
Tagovailoa said he had not yet met with the Dolphins but recognized that meeting was looming. That’s something that will determine how the Dolphins grade the quarterback relative to other players because general manager Chris Grier and coach Brian Flores said Monday they had never met Tagovailoa.
But there’s more to the process. And that includes how Tagovailoa looks post rehabilitation from his hip surgery. Those answers are coming as well because Tagovailoa expects to be cleared by doctors on March 9.
After that?
“I’ll be full go up until my Pro Day,’ Tagovailoa said. “I’ll be ready to go. This rehab process has gradually been going up as far as workout ... Once March 9th hits and I’m cleared to do everything, I’ll be full go with my workouts.
“Once March 9th hits, I’ll be able to run, drop back, move around.”
Tagovailoa doesn’t think he’ll be able to participate in the Alabama Pro Day in March but will have his own Pro Day on April 9.
It’s been suggested the injury will force teams to sit Tagovailoa as a rookie. That’s not the way Tagovailoa sees it but he’ll be fine with playing or sitting as a rookie.
“As a competitor, I want to be able to play,” Tagovailoa said. “But you look at a lot of the guys that are really good, a lot of the greats, they’ve been mentored by big-time quarterbacks and veteran quarterbacks.
“If a team needs me to go out there and start for them, I’ll do that. But if they need me to sit behind someone and learn from them, I can’t see what’s wrong with that as well.”
