Penix will be inactive for Week 1 vs. Steelers

Penix was cleared to participate in 11-on-11s back on August 22 and hasn’t logged much practice in camp. As a result, Tua Tagovailoa has been named the starter for the Falcons to kick off Week 1 against the Steelers, buying Penix some additional time to get practice reps and get his knee right before being put in game situations. Rapoport said the Falcons hope to give Penix “a couple more weeks” before playing him, so it wouldn’t be surprising if we saw Tua under center for the first few games of the season before the Falcons consider a switch at the position. Tagovailoa struggled in camp and throughout the preseason and is expected to be on a short leash once Penix is ready to go.

Despite an up-and-down training camp, Tagovailoa will get the nod as the starter when the Falcons kick off the season on Sunday against the Steelers. Given the fact that Michael Penix Jr. (knee) was still limited at the start of camp, Tagovailoa had long been assumed to have the inside edge on the QB1 job at the start of camp, but Penix was still given a shot to compete for the job despite not being cleared for 11-on-11 practice until August 22. Tagovailoa shouldn’t be counted on in standard 1QB leagues at this point, and fantasy managers looking to add him in 2QB and superflex leagues shouldn’t view him as a long-term solution. It would not be at all surprising if we saw both Tagovailoa and Penix start multiple games for the Falcons this season, with rookie UDFA Jack Stand also being a dark horse to see snaps at some point in the season after an impressive training camp and preseason.

Fowler notes that the official depth chart will be set on Wednesday, so the decision could be delayed by two days. Regardless, media members will surely ask coach Kevin Stefanski about it during Monday’s media session. NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe previously reported that the Falcons plan to start QB Michael Penix (knee) “eventually.” That said, QB Tua Tagovailoa could start a game or two early on.

Wolfe added that head coach Kevin Stefanski does not want “an imaginary timeline” for Penix (knee) returning; the Falcons want to see him practice more and avoid rushing him back. The next week of practices will show if he is ready or if Tua Tagovailoa will be the “placeholder” for Week 1. Tagovailoa’s struggles seem to have made it a foregone conclusion that Penix will start when ready this season as the Falcons evaluate whether or not they will need to draft a quarterback in 2027.

It appears to be careful language in describing how the team is approaching its iffy QB situation ahead of the season opener against the Steelers. Rookie QB Jack Strand, who played well in his preseason appearances, had taken some first-team reps over the past month with Michael Penix (knee) and Tua Tagovailoa struggling with injuries and plagued by poor play. It’s unclear whether Penix will be 100 percent ready for the season opener, while Tagovailoa has been shockingly bad in training camp and during the preseason. Strand is a decent bench stash in deeper superflex formats for now.

Tua Tagovailoa will start versus his old team. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said yesterday that Tua’s horrid play throughout training camp and the preseason has made it impossible for the team to name him the Week 1 starter. Penix finally joined 11-on-11 drills this week, but his absence from the preseason contest suggests the team isn’t quite ready to put him in harm’s way. The matchup with Miami will be Tua’s final shot at winning the job.

Rarely do you see a national reporter talk about a quarterback in these kinds of black-and-white terms as far as how well they’re playing, so it’s an alarming sign for Tagovailoa’s fantasy value. “Not just in the preseason game, but it sounds like practice as well,” Rapoport says while adding that this is “Michael Penix’s job for the taking.” Superflex fantasy managers wishing to speculate on the Falcons quarterback job would probably be best served pivoting to Penix at the moment.

Three weeks ahead of the opening of the regular season, Stefanski seems no closer to naming a starting QB than he was at the start of training camp. Michael Penix, recovering from a 2025 ACL injury, made his return to 11-on-11 practice Monday while Tua Tagovailoa continued to struggled. “I can’t speculate on those types of things,” Stefanski said. “I want to really stay in today with Mike and see how he does in practice. I really have to stay in the moment with this one. Let’s see how he feels after today.” Penix on Monday completed four of his eight pass attempts in 11-on-11 drills while facing “simulated pressure.” Two of his passes came up “noticeably short,” per The Athletic’s Josh Kendall.

Penix was recently cleared for 11-on-11 practice and will participate in 11-on-11s on Monday. The third-year signal-caller has been working his way back from a torn ACL he suffered in November and will now have a few weeks to compete with Tagovailoa for the starting job. While it seems highly unlikely that Penix would win the QB1 job to start the season after being limited for most of camp, Tagovailoa hasn’t had the strongest of camps. Speaking on The Pat McAfee Show earlier, Adam Schefter said Tagovailoa “hasn’t run away” with the competition, suggesting a path could be open for Penix to win the job. We’ll see how these next few weeks unfold, but it’s possible the Falcons will delay naming a QB1 until it’s time to begin preparing for Week 1’s game against the Steelers.

It has been assumed that Tua Tagovailoa would be under center when games begin to count in two weeks, largely due to the health of Penix. Recent weeks have given some pause to that expectation considering the struggles of Tagovailoa and increasing health of Penix, with the current quarterback situation now much more up in the air as the team inches closer to the regular season. Penix now gains clearance to participate in 11-on-11 practices, a massive milestone in his recovery from a torn ACL suffered in November. The Falcons appear to be headed towards a situation in which they are one of the final teams to announce their Week 1 starting quarterback, although it could still fall on Tagovailoa’s shoulders out of necessity.