Alabama Football: As rumors fly about Tua, Nick Saban remains noncommittal
By Ronald Evans
Tua Tagovailoa returned to practice Wednesday but Alabama football coach, Nick Saban offered little on the recovery of the Crimson Tide’s star quarterback.
There are various theories about how Alabama football coach, Nick Saban is handling information on Tua Tagovailoa’s recovery from injury and surgery. It is fair to label some of them conspiracy theories. Message boards include a wide range of ideas. Some fans going past gloom, all the way to doom, state they have inside knowledge Tua will be far less than (blank) percent for the LSU games. They fill in the blank but we will not here, lest we fuel foolish frenzy.
Other, more nuanced opinions (dare we say, more stable) are that Nick Saban will keep Tua’s status under-wraps for as long as he can. The thinking being the less LSU knows the better. We have a somewhat different opinion. While it is true Nick is not going to gift Coach O any favors, we believe Saban honestly does not know how healthy Tua will be on Nov. 9.
After all, Tua is barely 10 days past surgery. The Crimson Tide quarterbacking star has practiced only once, on Wednesday afternoon. Tua threw the ball in individual drills but according to Saban was not involved in any team work. Did the first work cause any swelling? How much pain did Tua experience during and after practice? There will be an around-the-clock watch in Tuscaloosa to answer those questions. If there is a machine that allows Tua to sleep while treatment continues on his ankle, Alabama football fans can be assured it is in use in T-Town.
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Part of the message board chatter Wednesday night was because Tua was not seen in the practice’s media viewing period. The media period was short on Wednesday. It is not unusual for veteran players, particularly those coming off injury, to join practice sessions after the viewing period. Still many in the college football world, including Alabama football fans, conclude Saban is hiding something.
Let the rest of the college football world hyperventilate. Alabama football fans might want to just take a deep breath or two. We actually prefer to use the indelicate words Nick Saban shared with A.J. McCarron on a Tide sideline, years ago. Corporate policies suggest we should not be so impolite.
Next. CFB Playoff Rankings. dark
Rest assured Crimson Tide fans, we’ll share all the Tua news, worthy of consideration. In the meantime, heed Nick’s words to A.J.