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- Mar 19, 2019
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Tua Tagovailoa‘s college coach wants to see him take good care of himself at the next level.
Alabama coach Nick Saban says that on the Dolphins, Tua will need to learn to protect his body from taking hits like the one that ended his 2019 season with a hip injury.
“No. 1 thing we’ve tried to convince him of here is he’s got to learn self-preservation is part of the job,” Saban said, via the Miami Herald. “Tua’s a great competitor. You don’t want to take his competitive spirit away. He’s always trying to make a play, even when the play breaks down. And that’s good. He does it well. He’s made a ton of plays in those circumstances. But I still think there are times when there’s just nothing here. Several times when he got hurt here, I felt like there’s no reason for him to even get hit. The receiver fell down, whatever the circumstance was, there’s nothing there. Play the next play. Sometimes the other guys wins, but I think that’s probably No. 1. No. 2, he is so instinctive.”
Saban said he was glad the injury concerns didn’t stop the Dolphins from taking Tagovailoa with the fifth overall pick.
“I was just rooting for the guy,” Saban said. “I felt so bad about him getting injured. Would those consequences of that injury affect his draft status dramatically? Probably as anxious as I ever was about a player getting drafted, so I was really excited about the fact that Miami ended up taking him. I think this is going to work out great. Tua’s a great player, and he’s going to be an even better person in the community and the organization.”
Now the Dolphins will hope Tagovailoa can be healthier in the NFL than he was in college.