The Atlanta Falcons hoped to host a quarterback battle this offseason between Michael Penix Jr. and Tua Tagovailoa. However, neither party will start in the season opener vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Falcons have ruled out Tagovailoa for Week 1 due to an oblique injury suffered in practice on Thursday. With Penix inactive as he continues to rehab from a torn ACL, Cooper Rush will get the start with undrafted rookie Jack Strand backing him up.
It’s not ideal for a franchise to be down its top two quarterbacks in Week 1, but that’s the predicament the Falcons find themselves in. Rush is 9-7 as a starter over his nine-year NFL career, having played for the Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys. In his one season with Baltimore last year, Rush threw for 303 yards, zero touchdowns and four interceptions in four appearances with two starts — both losses. Rush was actually benched by the Ravens for Tyler Huntley during a poor performance in Week 6 against the Los Angeles Rams.
There are Falcons fans out there who probably would rather see Strand — who joined the Falcons this offseason undrafted out of Minnesota State-Moorhead. He was one of the stories of the preseason, as the 22-year-old completed 66.7% of his passes for 306 yards, one touchdown and one interception, and also rushed for two touchdowns in three exhibition showings. But it’s the veteran Rush that gets the start against Pittsburgh.
What this means for Tagovailoa
The Miami Dolphins took on an NFL-record $99 million dead cap hit to move on from Tagovailoa this offseason, which is why it was questionable whether the Falcons would make an immediate push to sign the former No. 5 overall pick once he was made available. Tagovailoa was coming off a season in which he went 6-8 as the starter, threw a career-high 15 interceptions and was benched for rookie Quinn Ewers. It’s been quite a fall from grace for the quarterback that led the NFL in passer rating in 2022, passing yards in 2023 and completion percentage in 2024.
Tagovailoa has not impressed in Falcons practices or in his limited preseason action, which appeared to leave the door open for Penix to swoop in and steal the title of QB1. NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport even said at one point that this was Penix’s job for the taking, but he and his repaired knee weren’t fully cleared until late August.
James Palmer reported that Penix is healthy, but not where he feels like he needs to be right now. However, he is close. How close remains to be seen, but you have to wonder if Penix is in play to start the Week 2 home opener against the rival Carolina Panthers next Sunday.
