ATLANTA -- There appears to be a conflict regarding about the health of Alabama star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa's right knee -- stemming from comments made by Tagovailoa himself.

The Heisman Trophy front-runner said this week his knee is not "fully recovered" while a guest on an ESPN podcast.

"It still pops up here and there," Tagovailoa said Wednesday on the "Herbstreit & Fitzsimmons" podcast. "I still feel it when I'm making certain movements. A lot of the credit with how much I've been getting better goes toward [trainer] Jeff Allen and his training staff. … I wouldn't say it's fully recovered, but it's getting there. It's close."

Tagovailoa is a full go for the SEC Championship Game against No. 4 Georgia on Saturday. Sources described the health of the knee at 95 percent.

Also on Wednesday, Tagovailoa told CBS Sports that his knee "feels a lot better. Jeff Allen and his training staff did a really good job with helping me get back to almost my full potential."

The brace on Tagovailoa's knee was removed before No. 1 Alabama's game against The Citadel two weeks ago. Tagovailoa also told CBS Sports that he feels "a lot more mobile than when I was in the knee brace. I felt the knee brace had a restriction on me. … I made the decision I think we just best take it off and go from there."

Even if the descriptions of the knee are slightly different, that's still newsworthy. The SEC title, a College Football Playoff spot and possibly the Heisman are at stake on Saturday.

Tagovailoa suffered what was described as a sprain of the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) in his right knee at Arkansas in Week 6. At various times afterward, the condition of the knee seemed to limit his mobility.

In the Nov. 3 game at LSU, Tagovailoa seemingly tweaked the knee after a celebration that followed a long touchdown run against the Tigers.

Coach Nick Saban was asked about his quarterback not being fully recovered during the SEC Championship Game press conference on Friday.

"From a medical standpoint, they didn't feel like he needed to have a brace on his knee any longer," Saban said. "He looks like he can run efficiently and effectively. He doesn't have a lot of pain. As far as we're concerned, he's medically cleared to play. He's never ever thought that where he is right now has any effect on his ability to play."

If there has been any limiting of Tagovailoa's movement, it hasn't been apparent lately. In the final two games of the season, he completed almost 80 percent of his passes and accounting for 10 touchdowns against The Citadel and Auburn.

In the last two games, Tagovailoa has thrown for 20 percent of his season's total passing yards -- 664 yards.