Atlanta Falcons Quarterback Race Gains Momentum with Tagoliova Poised to Take Over
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The Atlanta Falcons quarterback competition has flown under the radar this offseason, but the dynamic is about to shift. With third-year Michael Penix Jr. closing in on a return, Tua Tagoliova takes the snaps for the third preseason game against the Miami Dolphins on Friday night.
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ESPNTua to start Friday's Falcons preseason finale Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. will not play Friday for the Atlanta Falcons in their preseason finale, coach Kevin Stefanski said Wednesday, adding that no decision has been made on the team's Week 1 starter at the position.
Bleacher ReportStefanski told reporters on Wednesday that veteran quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will be the starter for Friday's game, and fellow signal-callers Cooper Rush and Jack Strand will also see action. Despite third-year quarterback Michael Penix Jr. being cleared to practice fully earlier this week, Stefanski added he feels it's "too early" to put him in a game.
SB NationIt’s almost impressive how terrible Tua Tagovailoa has become. Falcons training camp began with Tua locked in as QB1, and then a chasm of space to Michael Penix Jr, who hasn’t been able to practice because he’s hurt — yet somehow Tagovailoa managed to lose the job to nobody. Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported Tuesday that Tua has been so awful in preseason and practice that the Falcons are just waiting on Penix to recover, at which point the job is his for the taking.
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However, Penix Jr. said he'll be ready to start Week 1 physically and mentally if he is named the starter by head coach Kevin Stefanski. If Penix Jr. wins the starting job, it will be the first time in his career that he'll start in the season opener.
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Bleacher ReportThe first order of business for Penix is getting to 100 percent before the start of the season, and he made progress last week when he was cleared for 11-on-11. He'll now look to earn the starting job in Atlanta.
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Tagovailoa, who wears the No. 1 jersey, has been pure No. 2 since arriving in Atlanta. In the first preseason game against the Broncos he went 3-for-5 for 22 yards, then didn’t play at all against the Colts in game two — in which the team looked infinitely better with Jack Strand and Cooper Rush under center, rather than the guy they signed to be the starting QB.
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Bleacher ReportTagovailoa played briefly in Atlanta's preseason opener against the Denver Broncos, completing three of his five passes for 22 yards in a 27-7 loss. He sat out Saturday's 34-6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Strand, who joined the Falcons as an undrafted free agent, impressed with 212 yards and a touchdown on 12-of-17 passing and a rushing score in the loss. Rush also looked solid, as the longtime backup went 10-of-11 for 86 yards.
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Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 Fox Sports The final week of the NFL preseason has brought starter announcements, more injury updates and a historic decision regarding the Pro Bowl on Wednesday.
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02 Bleacher Report Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. apparently gained some speed while he was rehabbing a torn ACL this offseason.
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03 SB Nation One infamous passage of play in the Falcons’ joint practice against the Colts saw Tua give up a sack on a play where he failed to identify pressure, then fumbled a snap, completed one pass to Drake London which was a staggering overthrow the WR managed to haul in, only for Tua to follow up with a pick-six. It’s believed his performance in practice against the Colts was so terrible that it led to the Falcons choosing not to play him in preseason game two, as a way to protect the QB as much as anything else.
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Sources (4)
- bleacherreport
- foxsports
- espn
- sbnation