Report: Tagovailoa went to ground in ‘discomfort’

Rush will serve as the emergency quarterback over Jack Strand. LB Samsom Ebukam, who came into the weekend listed as questionable, will play against the Saints. The Falcons look to move into a tie atop the NFC South against their divisional opponent after beating the Packers in Week 3.

Rush sits ahead of Strand on the depth chart and has been labeled as this evening’s emergency third quarterback. Hopefully, it doesn’t come to that. Week 3 marks QB Michael Penix’s return to action following last year’s season-ending knee injury.

Tagovailoa joins a jumbled Falcons backup quarterback group for Thursday Night Football. He does not need to be rostered in 12-team leagues. The Falcons will start QB Michael Penix (knee).

Tagovailoa, fighting injuries for much of the offseason, missed Atlanta’s first two games with an oblique issue. He’ll return just in time to serve as backup to Michael Penix, who’s returning from a 2025 ACL injury. Penix is set to start Thursday night against a Packers defense allowing the ninth lowest adjusted yards per pass attempt.

With Michael Penix already named the starter, Tagovailoa will be aiming to back him up in Week 3’s TNF clash with the Packers. The 28-year-old veteran got in a full session on Tuesday.

Stefanski said the team will “work through what that means for this week.” Time will tell whether or not that means Tagovailoa has a chance to play in Week 3 against the Packers on Thursday night, as the Falcons have a number of ways they can go at QB this week after another disastrous outing by Cooper Rush. Tagovailoa did not log a practice last week, but Michael Penix (knee) was a full participant. It would be fair to assume that Penix is closer to returning than Tua, but we’ll see where things stand when the team releases its estimated injury report later today.

With the Falcons set to play on Thursday night, Stefanski will have little time to prepare his starter for the week. It’s hard to imagine the team going back to Cooper Rush after back-to-back disastrous starts to open the season, which could pave the way for rookie UDFA Jack Strand to make the start of Tua Tagovailoa (oblique) and Michael Penix Jr. (knee) still aren’t ready to go. Strand completed 8-of-15 passes for 59 yards and an interception in his first taste of NFL action. Stefanski did say he had a “decent idea” of who he thinks he will be starting this week, so we’ll likely have our answer soon.

Strand replaced a struggling Cooper Rush in the third quarter of the blowout loss. His first career attempt was a pick-six, but it’s hard to pin much of the blame on him. He made a tight-window throw to Jahan Dotson and Devin Lloyd simply ripped the ball out of the receiver’s hands before he could secure it. Strand wasn’t awfully productive even after throwing out that play, taking two sacks while averaging a pitiful 3.9 yards per attempt. The hope for Falcons fans and fantasy managers alike is that Michael Penix will be ready for Week 3. It’s unclear whether Strand or Rush would start if Penix and Tua Tagovailoa remain out.

Rush opened the game with a lost fumble on Atlanta’s first offensive play of the day. Things somehow got worse from there. He was intercepted twice and nearly threw a third, but it went through the hands of Panthers linebacker Bobby Okereke. Rush was arguably the worst starter in the league in Week 1 and nothing changed in Week 2. With Michael Penix expected to make his 2026 debut next week, Rush may have just finished his final career start. Jack Strand will close this game out.

Per Schefter and Ian Rapoport, Penix is the team’s preferred starter and is nearing a return. Once he is finally ready to suit up, the job is his. They also note that the Falcons won’t cut Tua Tagovailoa, even once the team has four healthy quarterbacks. There is a possibility that a team wants to trade for Tua ahead of the midseason deadline, though we’re skeptical that there’s much of a market for him after this disastrous start to the season.