Alabama quarterback and Heisman Trophy frontrunner Tua Tagovailoa left the Tide’s win against Missouri in the third quarter with a right knee injury.

Tagovailoa wore a brace on his right knee all game after Nick Saban said earlier in the week that he had been dealing with a sprained knee that was not an “issue“. As Tagovailoa took off on a scramble and slid to a stop his right toes briefly caught in the turf. He sat on the ground as trainers looked at his knee before he jogged off the field and into Alabama’s medical tent.

He was replaced by Jalen Hurts. Tagovailoa emerged from the medical tent during Alabama’s second possession after the injury and stood on the sideline. Tagovailoa was wearing a neoprene sleeve on his knee in the third quarter after wearing a heavier-duty brace in the first half.

With the outcome not really in doubt for much of the second half, Tagovailoa watched the rest of the game from the sideline while Hurts played quarterback.

The Crimson Tide got along just fine without him, rolling to a 39-10 win.

Before the injury, Tagovailoa was 12-of-22 passing for 265 yards and three touchdowns. He still has not thrown an interception in 2018. When Saban said Tagovailoa was dealing with the injury in practice, he noted that he had not missed a snap.

After the game, Saban said Tagovailoa was “OK” and that he could’ve returned if need be.

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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

Follow @NickBromberg on Twitter

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