Falcons will play Tua Tagovailoa, starters in preseason opener vs. Broncos
FLOWERY BRANCH — The Falcons will play their starters for a series or 10 plays, whichever comes first, and will start Tua Tagovailoa at quarterback when they host the Broncos at 7 p.m. Friday for their preseason opener, coach Kevin Stefanski said during a news conference Wednesday.
Cooper Rush will follow Tagovailoa, and undrafted rookie Jack Strand will finish the game under center. Michael Penix Jr., who tore his ACL last November, still hasn’t been cleared for 11-on-11 and won’t participate in the first preseason game.
“The plan for playtime, it’s in pencil, and we need to get through this practice to then get it into pen, but feel good about it,” Stefanski said. “And then we’ll roll our guys through. We’ll vary playtime by player, so there’s some guys that may get more, some guys that may get less.
“But really trying to just get our guys ready for the season based on what we think they need in these games.”
Tagovailoa, who spoke with reporters Tuesday, said the preseason plays a “big role” in the process of gaining comfortability for the team at large.
“You don’t have the coaches out there. You’ve got to go out there, you’ve got to make the calls,” Tagovailoa said. “Whether it’s right or wrong, you’ve got to live with them. And then from there, you come in the next day, you watch film, you talk about it, and you go from there.
“But with it being a new staff for a lot of the guys that were on the team last year as well, I think they would say the same.”
Stefanski said Monday he wanted to get through the next two practices, then consult general manager Ian Cunningham, president of football Matt Ryan and the rest of his coaching staff before finalizing his preseason plan.
Falcons quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt described the process as “definitely collaborating” on Tuesday, but he said Stefanski ultimately makes the final decision.
Aside from 2020, when the NFL canceled the preseason because of COVID-19, Tagovailoa played in exhibition games each season with the Dolphins. He started two NFL exhibition games in four of the five years, with the lone exception coming in 2024, when he started one.
Tagovailoa didn’t see extensive action — across nine starts, he went 59-for-81 passing for 716 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions — during his appearances, but it offered additional time to operate within the system and work through terminology.
Stefanski has no concerns about playing Tagovailoa despite Penix’s injury situation, and he feels it’s a valuable opportunity for the 28-year-old signal-caller.
“It’s football, so our guys are ready to play and looking forward to getting his first action in a game in this system,” Stefanski said. “There’s a lot of newness for him as well, in terms of that type of thing. It’s the first time in the building for him as a Falcon, and just understanding all the things that go with it.”
Stefanski said the Falcons will watch film on the Broncos from last preseason, but the extent of their study will be reduced, and their game plan will be generic.
“I don’t believe in showing a lot in the preseason and doing all sorts of exotic things and whatnot,” Stefanski said. “So, we’ll have a very simple game plan on offense, defense and special teams so that our players can play fast.”