With Week 1 quickly approaching, at some point, Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski will officially name a starting quarterback.
But, as Stefanski said in his Wednesday press conference, that day is not today.
Michael Penix Jr. was able to advance to 11-on-11 drills in practice this week. But he is not going to play in Friday’s preseason finale against the Dolphins, with Tua Tagovailoa getting the start, Cooper Rush coming in second, and rookie Jack Strand coming in third.
"[Penix] just got back to team drills on Monday. So just felt [we wanted] to keep the focus on these three days and see how he came out of it,” Stefanski said. “I think he did well.”
But Stefanski was not willing to divulge his thoughts as to who might be QB1 at the start of the regular season.
“I’m not going to get into Week 1,” Stefanski said. “Obviously, I’m best served, and we’re best served, by keeping it day-to-day and focusing on what’s in front of us. Really, this was an important week for Mike — first time out there with people around you, the offensive line, the defensive line. I think going through a drill where you’ve got to move up in the pocket, or get chased out of the pocket, whatever it is.
“So I thought [it was] a really good first step for Mike in that regard. But outside of this week, I don’t think it’s fair to go farther than that.”
Tagovailoa had a rough go in his preseason debut against the Broncos, going just 3-of-5 for 22 yards with a fumble. He then did not play in last week’s matchup with the Colts. Stefanski said he’s seen progress from the former Dolphins QB over the last couple of weeks.
“I think [he’s been] doing a good job,” Stefanski said. “And that’s something — all of our players are really, on offense, playing in a new system. And getting all these reps and getting the walk-through reps and making sure we’re all on point, if you will. There’s something to be said in football where you make a mistake, and our job as coaches is to identify and correct. So, when something is wrong on the football field, we hustle in here, we watch the tape, and we get it fixed.
“There’s things from those plays in the Denver game that we learned from, we corrected. So I think all of our players, Tua included, take all that coaching to heart and try to be one day better after it.”
We’ll see what Tagovailoa’s performance looks like against his old team and what that could mean for the QB competition moving forward. But Stefanski seems fine with taking his time in choosing between Penix and Tagovailoa.
“We’ll take all the information we have available to us and make the decision when appropriate — really, when we have to,” Stefanski said.
