University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban said quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has “dropped about 15 pounds” since spring practice and “looks like he is in very good shape” heading into summer workouts at UA.
Saban discussed the Crimson Tide roster at the beginning of summer workouts as he spoke briefly with Tidesports between sessions of the UA football camps this weekend.
“Everyone is in and we don’t have anyone who won’t be able to participate to some degree,” Saban said. He noted that freshman running back Keilan Robinson of Washington, D.C., had arthroscopic surgery to repair a meniscus in his knee that had been torn in high school, a situation that Saban said “we were aware of coming in.”
Speaking at the SEC meetings last month, Saban attracted widespread attention in the college football world when he said that Tagovailoa “has to challenge himself to get back into great shape and overcome some of the things that happened toward the end of the year. And I think he should take the perception that he has a lot to prove relative to how we ended the season. I think the whole team fits into that category.”
@Tuaamann coaching the kids up on the last day of camp. I think they like him😂 pic.twitter.com/OcsijBsKsm
— Jeff Allen (@makennahsdad) June 11, 2019
Saban said Friday that Tagovailoa was meeting those expectations in summer conditioning and was showing no signs of being hampered by an ankle injury that slowed him late last season.
“I think he came out of spring and knew what he needed to do and is doing it,” Saban said.
Tagovailoa was the Heisman Trophy runner-up last season, throwing for 3,966 yards and 42 touchdowns with just six interceptions in 2018. He is Alabama’s clear-cut starter at quarterback. Sophomore Mac Jones came out of spring practice as the likely backup after taking second-team snaps in the A-Day game but Saban, who is not especially fond of depth charts, said that there was “competition at a lot of positions.”
Reach Cecil Hurt at cecil@tidesports.com or 205-722-0225
