Dolphins rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is healing better than expected from the hip injury that ended his final season at Alabama.
That’s the word from Kevin Wilk, his Alabama-based physical therapist, who says Tagovailoa is approaching full strength on a shorter timeline than people with his injury usually do.
“He’s doing miraculously well,” Wilk told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “The miraculous part is that he healed so well. The second part is, he’s been so well at getting his strength back, which usually takes a long time after something like this.”
Tagovailoa does about three and a half hours of work a day to strengthen the injured hip as well as both ankles, which he struggled to keep healthy at Alabama, as well as his throwing shoulder. Wilk and the Dolphins’ head trainer were in regular contact and Tagovailoa is doing everything expected of him and more.
“He’s laser focused. One of the most focused I’ve ever seen anybody, to be honest,” Wilk said.
Although injured players are declared ahead of schedule so often that it’s a red flag if a player is merely on schedule, Dolphins plans have to be pleased to hear that Tagovailoa seems to be trending toward being ready to go as a rookie.