Tua Tagovailoa Returns to Practice, Plans to Play Sunday: Roll Call, October 24, 2024

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Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) and wide receiver Tyreek Hill (10) take the field before the opening game of the season against the New England Patriots at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Sept. 11, 2022.
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) and wide receiver Tyreek Hill (10) take the field before the opening game of the season against the New England Patriots at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Sept. 11, 2022. / Jim Rassol / USA TODAY NETWORK

After suffering a concussion in Week 2, former Alabama standout quarterback Tua Tagovailoa returned to practice for the first time on Wednesday. He's expected to play against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Miami has been the lowest-scoring offense in the league since Tagovailoa went down despite being the second-highest scoring offense with him fully healthy last season.

One player who has really struggled to produce stats with Tagovailoa on the injured reserve is wide receiver Tyreek Hill. The eight-time Pro Bowler, five-time All-Pro First Team member and the No. 1 player in the 2024 NFL Top 100 led the league last year in receiving yards and touchdowns. When Tagovailoa was healthy in Week 1, Hill logged 130 receiving yards, but in Weeks 3-7 without him, Hill had a combined 140 yards.

"He looked great and it felt like old times," Hill said after practice. "Me and him connected on a few deep shots today, and that kind of got me feeling good today. I missed that and I missed him. I told him I've got to take him and his wife to dinner because I missed him so much, bro. S**t was so beautiful, that s**t almost made me cry today like just having him in the lineup, having him call the plays, having him direct the offense, like just hearing his voice. I know it sounds crazy, but he's a big part of this team. You see why these quarterbacks get paid so much money. The respect I have for him, the respect this whole team has for him, we're gonna have his back no matter what."

Today's Crimson Tide Schedule:

  • Soccer vs. Florida (senior night) | 7 p.m. CT | Alabama Soccer Stadium | SEC Network+

Crimson Tide Results:

  • Volleyball: Oklahoma 3, Alabama 0

Did You Notice?

  • Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe was named one of 16 finalists for the 2024 William V. Campbell Trophy on Wednesday. This National Football Foundation award is presented annually to an individual as the absolute best in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership.
  • Ahead of the most anticipated season in program history, Alabama men's basketball sold out of season tickets.
  • Alabama's Brooke Steere was named to the SEC Women's Soccer Community Service Team. Steere visited breast cancer patients at DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, volunteered with Reading Allies twice a week, helped at the local animal shelter and more.
  • Alabama women's tennis signed transfer Maria Andrienko for the 2025 spring season. Andrienko is ranked as the No. 38 women's tennis player in Spain.
  • Former Alabama Heisman Trophy winner and current Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young has re-gained the starting job for Sunday's game against the Denver Broncos after being benched for Andy Dalton the past couple of weeks due to poor performance. Dalton was recently in a car accident and sprained his thumb.

On This Day in Crimson Tide History:

October 24, 1925: In a battle of unbeatens, Alabama and Georgia Tech met for Southern Conference supremacy in Atlanta. A torrential rain cast gloom around Wallace Wade's team, noted for its quickness and passing abilities; however, the mud-drenched Crimson Tide won 7-0, thanks to a scintillating third-quarter touchdown punt return of 55 yards by Johnny Mack Brown.

October 24, 2009: This happened …

Crimson Tide Quote of the Day:

"I didn't really get off the ground. I just reached my arm up. That's how I got it. I knocked [the blocker] back. He was on his back."

Terrence Cody on the 2009 "Rocky Block"

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Hunter De Siver
HUNTER DE SIVER

Hunter De Siver is a graduate from the University of Alabama, earning a degree in sports media. During his time in Tuscaloosa, Hunter distributed articles covering Alabama football, basketball, and baseball for WVUA 23 TV and discussed these topics on Tide 100.9 FM. Hunter also generated articles highlighting Crimson Tide products in the NFL and NBA for BamaCentral. Since graduation, he's been contributing a plethora of NFL and NBA stories for FanNation and is a staff writer at MizzouCentral, Cowbell Corner and is back at BamaCentral.