Tua is Prone to Injury; Not Injury Prone
Tua Tagovailoa is the talk of the NFL Draft. Not just because of his talent but because of his injury history.
Just don't call him injury prone, says Dr. David Chao, now better known as "ProFootballDoc" on social media and his evolving website.
I caught up with Dr. Chao on 106.7 The FAN recently and picked his experienced brain more on the subject.
The "Medical Mike Pereira" as he calls himself says the easy reaction is to say that Tagovailoa is "injury prone."
Or are they prone to injury? Dr. Chao draws a line that is somewhat difficult to navigate through but he says everyone would have injured including Joe Burrow if something happened to Burrow like it did for Tagovailoa.
Dr. Chao pointed out Patrick Mahomes had ankle sprains in week one, week five and dislocated a kneecap. Tagovailoa had the ankle surgery to get him back faster.
"Is he prone to injury....they typically get hurt extending plays and out of the pocket."
"The more you expose yourself to hits, the more prone to injury you are," Chao said.
"It's borderline insulting to call him injury prone," Dr. Chao mentioned.
I asked about Russell Wilson extending plays and how he and others have been able to stay healthy.
Wilson, Dr. Chao said, is "very, very smart about how he extends plays."
"What he is - is a very skilled race car driver, who knows when it's to squeeze around a turn or path," Dr. Chao mentioned. "I think Russell Wilson has had that skill."
We know that certain quarterbacks get significantly injured (Cam Newton, Ben Roethlisberger, etc) and certain quarterbacks don't or haven't (Wilson, Kirk Cousins, Eli Manning) and then some do but don't miss games (Philip Rivers).
Dr. Chao also described the medical challenges that teams are facing but said it really depends on the type of injuries that players are dealing with.
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Chris Russell is the Publisher of RedskinsReport.com & Sports Illustrated's Washington Redskins channel. He can be heard on 106.7 The FAN in the Washington D.C. area and world-wide on Radio.com. Chris also hosts the "Locked on Redskins" Podcast and can be read via subscription to Warpath Magazine. You can e-mail Chris at russellmania09@Gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @Russellmania621.
