There’s yet another update on one of the most discussed digits in college football.
Tua Tagovailoa suffered an injury to his left (throwing) hand during Alabama’s first spring practice session earlier this month, with the quarterback’s father subsequently confirming that his son had undergone surgery to repair a broken index finger that same day. Tagovailoa returned to practice late last week, albeit on a limited basis.
Tuesday brought yet another development, with Tagovailoa actually throwing during the Crimson Tide’s practice earlier in the day. That said, he’s still limited in what he’s able to do throwing-wise, although his head coach hopes that’ll change sooner rather than later.
“Obviously he’s got a bad hand and we don’t want to hit on his hand,” Nick Saban said by way of ESPN.com, “but hopefully in a short period of time he’ll be able to go back out there.”
Until Tagovailoa is fully recovered, Jalen Hurts will continue to take the majority of the reps as the Crimson Tide continues its march through their 15 spring practice sessions.
The rising true junior Hurts, who has started every game but one the past two seasons, and the rising true sophomore Tagovailoa, the national championship game hero who replaced Hurts at halftime of the overtime win, are entrenched in a competition for the starting job that, barring a post-spring transfer, is expected to extend into summer camp. That said, most observers outside of the UA football program fully expect Tagovailoa, because of his proficiency in the passing game relative to Hurts, to earn the job at some point before the Tide opens the defense of their title against Louisville in Orlando Sept. 1.