Tua says he's 'on pace to make a full recovery'

Former Alabama quarterback and top prospect Tua Tagovailoa is two months removed from hip surgery and confident the injury won't impact his professional career.

"I feel really good," Tagovailoa said Thursday on NFL Network. "We're on pace to make a full recovery, so I think that's really good. But we really can't tell until the CT scan and the MRI at the three-month mark. At this point, I'm feeling really good."

Tagovailoa's final season in college came to an early end when he suffered a dislocated hip and associated fracture against Mississippi State.

If medically cleared, he's widely expected to be a top-five pick in April's NFL draft.

Tagovailoa said he intends to participate in the NFL Scouting Combine, which is set to take place from Feb. 27 to March 1. However, his focus will be on erasing any doubts about his health rather than putting on the most impressive performance.

"My main goal is not to win the 40, not to win the bench press, but to win my medical," Tagovailoa said. "So I'm going to go over there looking to win my medical and then go in and interview with the teams. That's pretty much what I'm going to do. And then hopefully there's a pro day down the line, either late March or early April."

Tagovailoa's agent said earlier in January that his client should be healthy enough by April to throw in front of teams.

The quarterback has previously said he expects to be able to play in his rookie year.

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