Hurry up and wait. That's the state of affairs for the Atlanta Falcons and their much-hyped quarterback competition at training camp.
On their first day of practice, we learned that Michael Penix has still not been cleared for 11-on-11 drills as he continues to recover from the ACL tear he suffered in November. Meanwhile, Tua Tagovailoa was also out as he deals with a newly-disclosed back injury. With Trevor Siemien also ailing, the team had no choice but to release him and bring in a healthy arm at QB, signing former Dallas Cowboys backup Cooper Rush.
At this point projecting who will be Atlanta's Week 1 starter is impossible. At best we can look ahead down the line and guess where this sad QB situation is going. According to one analyst at Bleacher
Report, Penix is the one NFL quarterback who's most likely to lose his starting job.
"Assuming Penix participates in most of training camp and manages to edge out Tagovailoa for Week 1, he'll still likely have the league's shortest leash. He'll need to make a massive jump over the lackluster production he displayed as a sophomore—Penix completed a meager 60.1 percent of his throws for 1,982 yards and nine touchdowns in nine starts prior to the injury—and show he can lift the ceiling on Atlanta's offense to have a chance at retaining the job."
As a rookie Penix only appeared in five games for the Falcons and started just three at the tail end of the season as Kirk Cousins got the vast majority of starter reps. Last year, Penix started nine games before suffering his third career ACL tear and his fifth career season-ending injury going back to his time at Indiana.
The question is no longer who will start for Atlanta Week 1 in Pittsburgh - but who will start Week 1 in 2027? It likely won't be someone who's on the roster right now. Perhaps it will be a rookie who's part of a strong draft class of quarterbacks.
We'll have to wait and see if Penix can get back on the field and prove his doubters wrong.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Falcons QB named most likely to lose starting job in 2026
