The Falcons have not named a quarterback for Sunday’s game against the Panthers and preparing the team’s defense under those circumstances was a topic of conversation for Panthers head coach Dave Canales on Wednesday.
Cooper Rush started for Atlanta last week with Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix inactive, but Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski has not committed to giving him a second start. Tagovailoa did not practice Wednesday and Penix said he still has milestones he wants to reach in his recovery from last season’s torn ACL, but Penix did not rule out getting there by Sunday.
Canales said the team will focus on Stefanski’s own history because there isn’t a major difference in playing styles between the quarterbacks.
“We just have to look at the history of Kevin Stefanski’s offenses and what he values and what he’s trying to get done. . . . The good part is no singular quarterback that they have is kind of a standout in terms of being a runner,” Canales said, via the team’s website. “Where when you have pocket passers, and these are all quarterbacks that I think are good quarterbacks, and, certainly, Tua, we’ve seen Michael Penix play at his best, and Cooper Rush, who’s been around a long time. So these are guys that can really operate. As a former quarterbacks coach, I value what they can do. There isn’t a dynamic of the zone-read type of element, a guy that kind of creates that extra special element. So we can really treat the system and the offense true to the integrity of what Coach Stefanski is trying to get done.”
Whatever choice the Falcons make, the Panthers defense will need to be a lot stronger than they were while being strafed by the Bears in a 59-37 loss in Week 1.
Falcons Clips
Falcons quarterback Cooper Rush revealed an interesting note about Wednesday’s practice during his press conference following the session.
Rush said he and Michael Penix Jr. split the first-team reps at QB to start the practice week.
“I don’t know exactly the amount. But we were both out there, me and Mike,” Rush said. “It was good work.”
Rush started for the Falcons in their Week 1 loss to the Steelers. Atlanta has not yet publicly determined who will start for the club against Carolina this week.
Penix may be splitting reps, but it’s not clear whether or not he’ll be fully ready to play a game on Sunday.
Rush finished the Week 1 loss 12-of-22 for 143 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He took four sacks.
The Falcons haven’t named a starting quarterback for Sunday’s game against the Panthers and Michael Penix didn’t do much to suggest that he’ll be the choice during his Wednesday press conference.
Penix has been practicing for some time and said that he “felt good out there” during practice earlier in the day, but he was inactive last week and said he’s “still working toward” feeling ready for game action. Penix is recovering from his third torn ACL and said that there are still some physical milestones he wants to reach before declaring himself all the way back.
“I’m close. I know I’ve been saying that, but there are there’s a couple of technical things I want to hit, some goals that I have that I want to achieve before I do step foot out on that field. . . . Dying to be out there, but, at the same time, I gotta think about how I feel and think about things I need to work on and make sure I hit before I go out there,” Penix said.
Penix stressed that the remaining steps are physical rather than mental and “whenever my knee feels good, I’m gonna be out there.” He didn’t rule out the possibility that could be this weekend, but he and the Falcons have taken the long view thus far and it seems hard to believe they’d speed things up at the very end.
Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski did not name a starting quarterback for Week 2’s home game against the Panthers at his Wednesday press conference.
The Falcons started Cooper Rush for their opener after ruling Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix out against the Steelers. Stefanski said that Tagovailoa will not practice on Wednesday due to an oblique injury, but Rush will be on the field despite receiving treatment for his back along with Penix. Penix is returning from last season’s torn ACL and has been cleared for full practice, but said last week that he does not feel all the way back from his injury yet.
“We will have a quarterback for this week,” Stefanski said. “Not yet, but we’ll work through that this week. . . . I’m not ruling anyone out.”
After being asked about undrafted rookie Jack Strand later in the press conference, Stefanski confirmed that he has not been ruled out as a potential choice.
Stefanski declined to say whether Penix is getting the kind of first-team work that would signal he’s got the green light for game action, which suggests the likeliest choice for this week is another start for Rush. The Falcons would then move on to a Thursday night game in Green Bay before an extended break leading into Week 4.
Falcons defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand suffered a season-ending quad injury in the season opener and the Falcons moved him off the active roster on Wednesday.
Hand was placed on injured reserve and the Falcons announced that they have signed tight end Nick Muse off of their practice squad in a corresponding move. They also signed defensive end Drake Jackson and running back Khalil Herbert to the practice squad.
Muse signed with the Falcons in August and joined the practice squad after being released as part of the final cuts. He was elevated from the practice squad for the team’s Week 1 loss to the Steelers and made one tackle on special teams.
Muse played in 16 games for the Vikings between 2022 and 2024. He caught one pass during his time in Minnesota.
As of Monday, the Falcons had “no updates” on the quarterback situation for Sunday’s home opener against the Panthers. On Tuesday, the team provided a fairly large bread crumb.
Via Josh Kendall of The Athletic, the Falcons have changed their media advisory from a “starting QB press conference” on Wednesday to a “QB Cooper Rush press conference.”
Steve Wyche of NFL Network adds that the team added Rush to the press conference roster “based on no new information,” and that coach Kevin Stefanski will announce the starter when he decides to make the information public.
Last week, the Falcons announced on Monday that Tua Tagovailoa would be the starter. He held that status until suffering an oblique injury in warmups before Thursday’s practice.
The Falcons would surely like to see Michael Penix Jr. return. Stefanski told Jay Glazer of Fox Sports over the weekend that Penix needs to be comfortable in the pocket, with bodies in the vicinity of his surgically-repaired knee.
For some quarterbacks returning from ACL surgery, the traffic around the knee isn’t an issue. For others (like Carson Palmer) it takes time.
“It took me a full year, plus another six, seven games into the next season, to really feel comfortable again and not see ghosts,” Palmer said regarding his ACL tear from the wild-card round of the 2005 playoffs. “There would be times when I’d drop back and I’d see color flash, and I’d pull my leg back or not step into a throw because the memory was fresh.”
For Penix, it helps that his left leg isn’t his plant leg. Still, both legs are exposed to the scrum that emerges when the pocket begins to collapse. He needs to be comfortable with the possibility of having that leg hit from the side before he can play.
With or without an announcement, it will be impossible to keep quiet the identity of the quarterback who gets the first-team reps in practice on Wednesday. That’ll be the next clear indication as to whether it will be Rush or Penix or someone else on Sunday.
Panthers wide receiver Jalen Coker got his 2026 season off to a strong start on Sunday and he doesn’t expect an ankle injury to keep him from building on it.
Coker had his left foot in a boot at the team’s facility on Monday and said, via Mike Kaye of ESPN.com, that he “just rolled my ankle a little bit” in Sunday’s loss to the Bears. Coker said that the boot was precautionary and he does not expect it to keep him from playing against the Falcons in Week 2.
Coker caught eight passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns in the 57-39 loss.
It was Coker’s first game since signing a three-year contract extension with the team this offseason. The result was not to Carolina’s liking, but the first return on that investment was a promising one.
The Falcons emerged from Week 1 with injury issues on both their offensive and defensive lines.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski said on Monday that right guard Chris Lindstrom is in the concussion protocol after being injured in Sunday’s loss to the Steelers. Stefanski also confirmed that defensive tackle Da’Shawn Hand tore his quad and will miss the rest of the season.
Lindstrom played 51 offensive snaps before leaving the game. Kyle Hinton played nine snaps in his place and Lindstrom’s progress through the protocol will determine if he’s back in the lineup against the Panthers.
Hand only played seven snaps in what will be his only appearance of the season. He signed a one-year deal with Atlanta as a free agent this offseason.
The Falcons are not ready to name a starting quarterback for Week 2.
Cooper Rush got bumped into the starting role after Tua Tagovailoa injured his oblique during practice last week and went 12-of-22 for 143 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions in a 20-13 loss to the Steelers. Undrafted rookie Jack Strand was the only other available quarterback because Michael Penix was inactive and head coach Kevin Stefanski said that he never considered putting Strand in against Pittsburgh.
On Monday, Stefanski said, via multiple reporters, that he had “no updates” on the health of Tagovailoa or Penix. Penix tore his ACL last season and was cleared for full football activities in late August. He also said that he has no timeline in mind to settle on a starter for Atlanta’s home opener against the Panthers.
The Falcons will return to practice on Wednesday and the participation levels in that workout should give some idea of what direction things will go in Week 2.
The Falcons opened the 2026 season with a loss to the Steelers and they may have lost a defensive lineman for the rest of the year as well.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand is believed to have a torn quad that would require season-ending surgery. Hand is soliciting other opinions before making a decision about a course of action.
Hand signed a one-year deal with the Falcons this offseason. He played seven snaps on Sunday before leaving with his injury.
The Falcons have already lost linebacker Jalon Walker for the season and James Pearce has seven games to go on his suspension, so the front seven is getting thin in Atlanta.
