Cooper Rush is officially set to start Sunday’s game against the Panthers, with Jack Strand as his backup.
Atlanta announced its game statuses for Week 2 and Michael Penix Jr. (knee) is out with Tua Tagovailoa (oblique) listed as doubtful.
Penix is still not ready to play after undergoing reconstructive knee surgery midway through last season. Tagovailoa suffered an oblique injury during practice last week.
It was reported that Rush was expected to start earlier on Friday.
While Rush has been dealing with a back issue, head coach Kevin Stefanski said in his Friday press conference that Rush is “doing better,” but wouldn’t speculate beyond that.
As for Penix, a full participant in practice all week, Stefanski would not speculate as to whether or not he’ll be available for Week 3. The Falcons will travel to Green Bay for a Thursday night matchup.
“Again, it’s a progression,” Stefanski said. “Feel really confident in the plan, feel really confident in what we’ve done, and what Mike has done both on the field and medically. And like he’s told you, like I’ve told you — when he’s ready, he’ll be ready.”
Cornerback Billy Bowman Jr. (Achilles) has also been ruled out for Sunday.
Guard Chris Lindstrom (concussion) and cornerback A.J. Terrell (shoulder) are questionable. Terrell did not participate on Friday but Lindstrom was a full participant.
Panthers Clips
Last year, quarterback Cooper Rush made two starts for the Ravens, in Weeks 5 and 6. This year, he’ll get two starts in Weeks 1 and 2.
Via Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Rush is taking the first-team reps at Friday’s practice and is expected to start for the Falcons on Sunday, against the Panthers.
It will be Rush’s 18th career start. He currently has a record of 9-8.
The other alternative for the assignment, Michael Penix Jr., is still not ready to play after suffering a torn ACL last November. (Tua Tagovailoa remains out with an oblique injury.)
Carolina has done well against Atlanta in recent years, with three straight victories over the Falcons. Quarterback Bryce Young has a 4-1 record against the Falcons, with four straight wins.
With Rush as the quarterback, the Falcons will need a big day from running back Bijan Robinson. In Week 1, he had 83 rushing yards and 90 receiving yards against the Steelers. Via NBC Sports research, he accounted for 66 percent of the team’s offense — the highest rate for the opening weekend.
No player has ever had 75 or more rushing yards and 75 or more receiving yards in the first two games of a season.
Wide receiver Jalen Coker is good to go for the Panthers on Sunday.
Coker injured his ankle in last Sunday’s loss to the Bears and was in a boot early in the week, but said he would be fine to face the Falcons and he returned to full practice participation on Friday. He has no injury designation for this weekend’s game, so he’ll be available to build on his two-touchdown start to the 2026 season.
Linebacker Patrick Jones (back) is listed as questionable after missing the opener.
Defensive tackle Bobby Brown (back) missed practice all week and he has been ruled out for Sunday’s game.
Wide receiver Jalen Coker is coming off a big Week 1 performance, but he’s not totally healthy heading into Week 2.
Coker said on Monday that he rolled his ankle during last Sunday’s loss to the Bears. Coker said he does not expect to miss any game action as a result of the injury, but he remained limited in practice on Thursday.
Coker had eight catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns against Chicago.
Defensive tackle Bobby Brown (back) was the only player out of practice for Carolina on Thursday. Tight end Darren Waller (rest) returned to full participation and linebacker Pat Jones (back) was limited for the second day in a row.
There were no changes to the practice plans for the Falcons’ quarterbacks on Thursday, but there were some differences at other positions.
Cornerback A.J. Terrell was a full participant after sitting out on Wednesday because of a shoulder injury. The Falcons also got right guard Chris Lindstrom back on the field. He was a limited participant as he continues to work his way through the concussion protocol.
Quarterbacks Michael Penix (knee) and Cooper Rush (back) were listed as full participants for the second straight day. They split first-team work on Wednesday with Tua Tagovailoa out due to an oblique injury. Tagovailoa remained out of practice.
- Cornerback Billy Bowman (Achilles) and linebacker Kendal Daniels (Achilles) were both limited participants. Defensive end Za’Darius Smith (rest) and offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor (knee) did not participate in practice.
The Falcons will issue injury designations for Sunday’s game against the Panthers on Friday.
At this point, it looks like Tua Tagovailoa is out of the running to start Atlanta’s Week 2 matchup against Carolina.
According to multiple reporters on the scene, Tagovailoa was not on the field for practice during the portion of the session open to media on Thursday.
Tagovailoa is dealing with an oblique injury suffered during practice last week. He did not practice on Wednesday.
Additionally, reporters noted that both Michael Penix Jr. and Cooper Rush were throwing to starting receivers during early drills. That suggests Penix and Rush will once again split first-team reps, as Rush revealed the club did on Wednesday.
Rush started the Week 1 loss to the Steelers, finishing 12-of-22 for 143 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.
Atlanta’s full injury report will be released later in the day.
The Browns are adding a player who’s plenty familiar with their (current) backup quarterback.
According to multiple reports, Cleveland is signing receiver Jimmy Horn Jr. to its practice squad.
Horn — a Panthers sixth-round pick in last year’s draft — had a rough Week 1, muffing a punt while trying to make a fair catch. He was waived earlier this week as the team added a linebacker.
Horn could help the Browns as a returner, as Dylan Sampson is expected to miss significant time with a knee injury suffered during the season-opening loss to the Jaguars.
Horn played with Shedeur Sanders at Colorado before both were drafted last year. With Deshaun Watson struggling through Cleveland’s season opener as QB1, Sanders could be elevated to a starting role sooner than later.
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 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.
