This barely qualifies as news if you’ve been following the quarterback competition in Atlanta, but Tua Tagovailoa will indeed be the starter for the first preseason game against the Denver Broncos. He’ll throw his first pass as a Falcon sometime after 7 p.m. on Friday night.
The reason this is surprising has little to do with the respective performances of Tua or Michael Penix Jr., who have both been solid-to-excellent during training camp. It has everything to do with the fact that Tua is currently
healthy and Penix has not been cleared for full team work yet, which has limited him to 7-on-7 work and individual drills in camp to this point. Given that Penix is still waiting on clearance from doctors and said on July 29 that he “can’t afford to have somebody trip and fall and land on me right now,” it would be stunning if he was going to start for Atlanta Friday night. Cooper Rush will serve as the #2 quarterback and Jack Strand will likely get significant work as the #3, per Kevin Stefanski. Penix will not play against Denver.
Stefanski made sure to mention that this does not mean Tua has the starting job for 2026, which leaves the door ajar for Penix to steal it if Tagovailoa struggles and/or Penix gets cleared soon and looks stellar. As I’ve said repeatedly, that’s my ideal outcome given that Penix is under team control for 2026 and 2027 with a fifth year option for 2028, and because his deep passing skills open up some thrilling possibilities for explosive plays in Atlanta. But we do have to acknowledge that right now the picture looks like it has for weeks, which is Tua simply needing to be healthy to be the Week 1 starter in the regular season, with Penix starting the year as a backup and hoping to be ready if Tua is hurt or simply forcing his way into the starting job over time.
The good news, as I mentioned, is that both quarterbacks have done well this summer. Tua has largely showed off his trademark accuracy in practice and has thrown a handful of impressive touchdowns along the way, while Penix has drawn rave reviews from quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt and Stefanski for the work he’s put in under center and what he’s been able to do in practice. On a totally level playing field this might be the league’s most hotly-contested quarterback battle, but that will have to wait until the team sees Penix’s participation ramp up to full. That’s a shame, of course, but as Penix himself has noted there is absolutely no sense in rushing this process and putting the young quarterback in a position where he might suffer a setback.
Right now, my hope is that Tagovailoa plays well in limited action Friday and comes out of the game with no injuries, Penix is recovered enough soon to get to full-team work and make this competition really close down the stretch, and that both players enter the year able to help the Falcons. For now, Tua’s the preseason starter and the likely regular season starter, so I’m rooting hard for him to excel.
