Tua insists Falcons QB ‘competition’ is real but Michael Penix Jr. implies Week 1 battle is already over

The ongoing quarterback battle at the Atlanta Falcons is one of the most exciting to watch in the NFL this offseason.

After cutting ties with veteran signal caller Kirk Cousins, who later went on to sign with the Las Vegas Raiders to mentor No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza, the Falcons added former first round pick Tua Tagovailoa to the roster.

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Tagovailoa, like Cousins, was cut from his former team Miami Dolphins after six seasons in which he recorded 18,166 passing yards for 120 touchdowns and 59 interceptions.

But after a very disappointing 2025 campaign in which he had the second-most interceptions in the NFL with 15 in just 14 games (Geno Smith had 17 in 15 games), Tagovailoa knows that coming in and taking over the starting job from Michael Penix Jr. is not a certainty.

“I view it as a competition. I understand he [Penix] can’t take some team reps right now because of what he’s going through, but he’s still being able to compete in seven-on-seven, he’s still able to go through some plays,” Tagovailoa said.

“It’s definitely a competition.”

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Penix, the eighth overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, is coming off of a partially torn ACL suffered back in November last year.

It is expected that he will have to wait until later in August, at the earliest, to be fully cleared to return to 11-on-11 drills.

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Tagovailoa himself is also dealing with an injury, which forced the Falcons into signing Cooper Rush as an emergency QB to begin training camp.

“Nothing too serious, just a caution kind of thing where we’re not rushing it. It was just a flare-up, nothing big, not anything long-term. We’ll be fine,” Tagovailoa said of his injury.

This means that the highly-anticipated battle between the two signal callers has yet to really get underway, though Penix’s recovery appears to be ticking along nicely.

“I’m doing great. I feel like I’m right where I need to be, just running my own race and taking it one day at a time, trying to get better each and every day,” Penix said of his recovery progress.

Tua a virtual lock to be Falcons’ Week 1 starter

As it stands, though, the league-wide sentiment is that Tagovailoa will be new head coach Kevin Stefanski’s choice for being the starter in Week 1 of the season.

According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, though, Stefanski is not in a rush to name his QB1 just yet, though he has “noted Penix doesn’t look like a limited quarterback based on how he’s moving around.

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“Penix has done more than the team even expected, dating back to the spring,” Fowler wrote. “The Falcons have acclimated him to more under-center work.

“And Penix made it clear that he isn’t rushing his recovery just to expedite a QB battle.”

Penix Jr. has made it no secret that he wants to be named QB1

When asked whether he would prefer to help the team as the starter, the 26-year-old said, “Absolutely. Everybody wants to be in that role.”

However, Penix Jr. has made it clear that he won’t be rushing his rehabilitation process for the sake of inserting himself into a QB battle.

“But at the same time, you’ve got to work for it. Tua came in and he’s been great. But at the same time, it’s all a process.

“Right now, I’ve got to focus on getting back on the field. The whole starting thing comes later.”

Despite his limitations, Penix has still gotten some reps in practice, and dare some reporters say, he looks further along in his recovery than fellow compatriot Tagovailoa.

“Can Michael Penix actually kind of put himself in good stead, even though he’s not a full participant in practice, which has obviously been something that we’ve been talking about not just since camp started, but for the better part of the summer,” Joe Patrick of 92.9 The Game said on Monday.

“But Tua Tagovailoa has not really been nearly the participant that Michael Penix has in terms of what he’s been able to do on the field so far in training camp.

“So [if he sticks to his recovery timeline], he could be right in contention, or potentially even healthier than Tua is. We’ll see how Tua progresses.”