Tua brushes off injury-prone label: 'I'm not playing badminton'

Less than two weeks before the 2020 NFL Draft kicks off, top quarterback prospect Tua Tagovailoa is looking to quiet concerns over his durability.

"I'm not playing badminton. I'm not on the swim team," Tagovailoa told former Alabama offensive coordinator and Maryland head coach Mike Locksley Friday on Instagram Live, according to ESPN. "(Football) is a physical sport. You're gonna get hurt. That just comes with it. And it was just very unfortunate that I got hurt every season.

"It's a part of the game. It's a contact sport. I can only control what I can control. I can't control that."

Tagovailoa's health has dominated draft-related headlines over the last few weeks. After a serious hip injury ended his final campaign with the Crimson Tide early, reports surfaced he failed physicals with two teams and had unknown wrist injuries revealed in the process.

Tua did his best to quiet concerns on Thursday, holding a private pro day. His agent also called previous reports regarding his health "overblown."

In addition to last year's hip injury, the lefty required separate surgeries after suffering high ankle sprains in 2018 and 2019. However, his outlook has been almost overwhelmingly positive throughout the draft process.

Healthy or not, Tagovailoa's injury history could negatively impact his stock, but the former Alabama signal-caller insisted he'd "play for whoever takes me."

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