Michael Penix isn’t the only Falcon making his season debut tonight.
Falcons cornerback Billy Bowman Jr. is active for Thursday Night Football. The team listed him as questionable with the Achilles injury that ended his 2025 season in a Week 12 practice.
The Falcons need Bowman this week with starting corner A.J. Terrell Jr. landing on injured reserve with a groin injury.
The team’s other inactives are quarterback Cooper Rush, quarterback Jack Strand, defensive back Malcolm DeWalt IV, defensive back Robert Longerbeam, defensive end Samson Ebukam (hamstring) and offensive lineman Ethan Onianwa.
The Packers’ inactives are wide receiver Jayden Reed (neck), offensive tackle Zach Bako-Bewele (knee), offensive guard Aaron Banks (knee/toe), defensive tackle Warren Brinson (calf) and defensive tackle Anthony Campbell (ankle).
Nose tackle Javon Hargrave (knee/concussion) is active after three limited practices and a questionable designation.
Falcons Clips
It looks like Tua Tagovailoa will be Atlanta’s backup quarterback when the team plays Green Bay on Thursday night.
Tagovailoa has no game status on the Falcons’ final injury report of the week, meaning he is available to play.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski noted earlier on Wednesday that Tagovailoa was trending toward being the backup behind Michael Penix Jr. this week.
Tagovailoa was supposed to start the season opener, but suffered an oblique injury during the practice week. Cooper Rush started the first two games as Michael Penix Jr. was still recovering from reconstructive knee surgery.
But now Penix is QB1 with Tagovailoa presumably QB2 for Week 3.
Elsewhere on the injury report, cornerback Billy Bowman (Achilles) is questionable while defensive end Samson Ebukam (hamstring) is out.
Running back Bijan Robinson (ankle), defensive lineman Brandon Dorlus (thumb), tight end Nick Muse (shoulder), and right tackle Jawaan Taylor (rib) are off the injury report and are set to play.
The Packers released their final injury report for Thursday night’s game against the Falcons and it confirms that they’ll be without two starting offensive linemen for the game.
Left guard Aaron Banks (knee, toe) has been ruled out after leaving last Sunday’s win over the Jets in the second quarter. Right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele tore his patellar tendon in that game and is out for the season.
Guard Donovan Jennings (hand) and tackle Anthony Belton (elbow) replaced them last week and both are set to play as they did not receive injury designations.
Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave (knee, concussion) is questionable after missing Week 2. Defensive tackle Anthony Campbell (ankle) is also listed as questionable.
Wide receiver Jayden Reed was officially ruled out with the neck injury that caused him to spend time in a New Jersey hospital before returning to Green Bay during the week. Defensive tackle Warren Brinson (calf) will miss the game as well.
The Falcons added a cornerback to their 53-man roster ahead of Thursday night’s game against the Packers in Green Bay.
They announced that they have signed cornerback Robert Longerbeam off of the Eagles’ practice squad.
Longerbeam was a 2025 sixth-round pick of the Ravens and he spent his entire rookie season on injured reserve. He failed to make the cut to 53 players in Baltimore this summer and signed to the Eagles’ practice squad in early September.
The move comes a day after the Falcons placed cornerback A.J. Terrell on injured reserve. Terrell suffered a groin injury in Atlanta’s Week 2 loss to the Panthers.
Michael Penix Jr. may not be the only Falcons quarterback returning to the scene in Week 3.
Tua Tagovailoa was upgraded to being a full participant on the team’s estimated injury report on Tuesday and head coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters on Wednesday that Tagovailoa may be the backup for Thursday’s matchup against the Packers.
“We’ll see,” Stefanski said in his press conference. “But he’s trending in the right direction.”
Tagovailoa has been sidelined since suffering an oblique injury during practice before the season opener.
Tagovailoa had been in a position to start before suffering the injury. Stefanski said that Tagovailoa has handled the entire situation well.
“Awesome teammate,” Stefanski said. “He’s working very, very hard to get himself back healthy and he’s doing really well there. But just ultra supportive. Great person to have around the building.”
Penix is set to start his first game since tearing his ACL midway through last season.
Atlanta’s final injury report of the week will be released later on Wednesday.
Michael Penix is set to make his first start for the Falcons since last November when the team faces the Packers on Thursday night and the quarterback shared his excitement about that return during a press conference on Tuesday.
Penix had said in recent weeks that he felt close to getting back in the lineup, but not all the way back to where he needed to be to feel confident in playing. He said that changed late last week as lingering soreness went away and he was convinced it was time to get back on the field after “pushing it to the limit” in a workout and finding that the knee “responded good.”
Penix said that the timing of his return had nothing to do with having extended rest heading into Week 4 or because of how poorly the first two weeks have gone for the team.
“Being healthy is what I was targeting. I was never no week-to-week thing,” Penix said at a press conference. “It was being healthy. Whenever I felt like I can go out there, like I said, get out of all that soreness and get stronger each and every day, that’s what it was always about. Once I felt healthy, it felt like I was ready to go. . . . I’m never gonna sit out if I’m healthy. I knew I wasn’t where I needed to be the first two weeks and now I feel like I’m where I want to be, so that’s why you’ll see me up this week.”
Penix called it “very exciting when you make the final decision” and, given the way the offense has floundered through two games, he’s likely not the only Falcons player excited about the change in plans for this week.
The Packers added another offensive lineman to their injury list on Tuesday.
Offensive tackle Anthony Belton was added to their injury report and listed as a limited participant in practice due to an elbow injury. The Packers only held a walkthrough, so the level of work is an estimation.
Belton’s addition comes after right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele announced he’ll miss the rest of the season with a torn patellar tendon. Left guard Aaron Banks (toe) was also a non-participant in practice Tuesday and backup lineman Donovan Jennings (hand) was a limited participant.
Wide receiver Jayden Reed remained out of practice. Reed was carted off on Sunday with what’s alternately been described as a back and neck injury and the Packers list it as a neck injury.
Defensive tackle Warren Brinson (calf) was the only other Packer out of practice. Defensive tackle Anthony Campbell (ankle), cornerback Brandon Cisse (teeth), linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (shoulder), and defensive tackle Javon Hargrave (knee, concussion) were listed as limited. Wide receiver Bo Melton (neck) and cornerback Benjamin St-Juste (hamstring) were full participants.
Tua Tagovailoa won’t be starting for the Falcons on Thursday night, but he could suit up for the first time this season.
The Falcons listed Tagovailoa as a full participant in practice on Tuesday for the first time since he suffered an oblique injury during a practice ahead of Week 1. The Falcons already announced that Michael Penix will make his 2026 debut as their starter against the Packers this week and Tagovailoa could be their backup ahead of Cooper Rush and Jack Strand.
Rush started the first two games and Strand replaced him in the second half of Atlanta’s Week 2 loss to the Panthers.
Defensive end Samson Ebukam (hamstring) was the only player listed as out of practice Tuesday. The Falcons also put cornerback A.J. Terrell (groin) on injured reserve earlier in the day.
Cornerback Billy Bowman (Achilles), tight end Nick Muse (shoulder), right tackle Jawaan Taylor (rib), defensive end Brandon Dorlus (thumb), running back Brian Robinson (ankle), and defensive lineman LaCale London (hip) were listed as full participants.
The Falcons won’t have cornerback A.J. Terrell in the lineup against the Packers on Thursday night and his absence will continue well beyond Week 3.
Terrell left Sunday’s loss to the Panthers to be evaluated for both a concussion and a groin injury. He did not suffer a concussion, but missed the rest of the game with the groin injury that landed him on injured reserve on Tuesday.
C.J. Henderson stepped in for Terrell against Carolina and is the likely starter alongside Mike Hughes. Billy Bowman was inactive for the Carolina game, but would join Avieon Terrell, Mike Ford, and Malcolm DeWalt as other corner options if he’s healthy.
The Falcons filled the open roster spot by signing defensive lineman Zach Harrison off of their practice squad. They also announced that they have released center James Brockermeyer from the practice squad and signed offensive tackle Colby Sorsdal.
The Falcons’ quarterback carousel has finally landed on their first-round draft pick from 2024.
The team has announced that Michael Penix Jr. will start in Thursday night’s game against the Packers at Lambeau Field.
Penix suffered a torn ACL in November 2025. He fully participated in practice before both regular-season games, but he was not ready to play.
Some would say that, if he’s going to be ready to play on Thursday, he could have played on Sunday against the Panthers.
Instead, it was Cooper Rush. Rush was removed in the third quarter for undrafted rookie Jack Strand. In combination, they threw three interceptions and generated a passer rating of 28.8.
And so it will be Penix time for the 0-2 Falcons, whose next three games are scheduled to be played in prime time.
