Ankles are interesting joints. The confluence of a whole lot of bones, tendons and ligaments, one’s ankle literally keeps you upright.

For anyone who has sprained an ankle, they know the sudden pain that comes with it. Maybe you stepped off a curb the wrong way or missed a stair. You go down in a heap. It hurts. And will for a few days.

When a 240-pound college football player is falling on your legs as you try to escape, you might even sustain what is called a “high ankle sprain.” The folks at WebMD describe this as when the ligament joining the two bones of the lower leg (tibia and fibula), called the syndesmotic ligament, is injured.

A high ankle sprain causes pain and swelling similar to a true ankle sprain, but can take longer to heal.

And there is one ankle right now that is holding the entire weight of the 2019 Alabama football program by the length of a single braided polyethylene cord.

Tua Tagovailoa knows about high ankle sprains. He had one last year, in his left ankle. And Saturday night against Tennessee, Tagovailoa hit a dubious jackpot by injuring that syndesmotic ligament in his right ankle while being tackled by linebacker Greg Emerson.

Tagovailoa was done for the night against Tennessee. But instead of Jalen Hurts warming up like he did last year when Tagovailoa injured the left ankle, it was Mac Jones nervously chucking passes in an attempt to get ready.

The Mac Jones Era doesn’t exactly strike fear in the hearts and minds of SEC defenses. And while Jones didn’t exactly carve up Tennessee in the second half, he was serviceable enough to keep the Alabama offense on the rails en route to a 35-13 victory.

After the game, Alabama coach Nick Saban addressed Jones’ performance.

“Mac did some good things and we think he is capable, so we have a lot of confidence in Mac,” Saban said after the game. “I think the players have a lot of confidence in Mac.”

Sunday morning, Alabama confirmed that Tagovailoa had successful surgery to his right ankle — the same “tightrope procedure” he had on his left ankle after last season’s SEC Championship Game.

“Tua Tagovailoa suffered a high-ankle sprain last night against Tennessee,” Saban said via a statement. “Our physicians performed a successful tight-rope procedure on his right ankle this morning. This is the same injury, but the opposite ankle that Tua injured last season. Tua will miss next week’s game against Arkansas, but we expect a full and speedy recovery.”

The procedure anchors the ends of the tibia and fibula together with a braided polyethylene cord, rather than with a rigid surgical screw, to restore the original position of the bones and to allow for proper healing.

Recovering from a tightrope procedure is an inexact science. Alabama lineman Cam Robinson managed to be back on the field in 2014 just 2 weeks between the injury and starting at LSU for what became an overtime win for the Tide. It took Hurts a solid month to recover from his procedure.

“A 2-week recovery time is about as fast as I’ve heard of anybody trying to get back on the field with a true high-ankle injury,” said Dr. William McGarvey of Katy (Texas) Orthopedics to AL.com in 2018 when asked about return-to-play timetables.

No. 1 Alabama has almost 3 weeks before a showdown with No. 2 LSU at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Tagovailoa was seen on social media telling teammates after Saturday’s Tennessee game that he would be back to face the Tigers.

For this Saturday, at the very least, it is Jones who will lead the Alabama offense. The mighty Arkansas Razorbacks are coming to Tuscaloosa at 7 p.m. ET for another light show/football game that likely will provide precious little drama.

Arkansas is 2-5 and 0-4 in SEC play. June Jones or Jerry Jones could start at quarterback for Alabama and the end result would likely be the same. Expect the Crimson Tide to dole out a heaping helping of Najee Harris and Brian Robinson Jr., craft a game plan that takes advantage of Jones’ talents (Mac Jones, of course …) and play tough defense to get out of the game undefeated and intact.

After a well-timed off week helps both Tagovailoa and any other dinged-up Alabama players heal, hopefully that braided polyethylene cord will have done its job.

Because LSU is no joke. The Tigers are hungry, talented and ready to deliver a loss that would make Ed Orgeron fully incomprehensible after the game.

Between now and then is only therapy, rehabilitation and hope for Tagovailoa. The entire weight of the 2019 Alabama football season is in the balance.

What is the tensile strength of braided polyethylene cord?