Falcons’ Tagovailoa ‘continuing to grow’ amid joint practice lumps vs. Colts

WESTFIELD, Ind. — Tua Tagovailoa dropped back, looked left and fired down the left sideline to Drake London. The Falcons’ star receiver elevated, extended his arms and plucked a contested catch over the top of Colts cornerback Justin Walley.

It was, by and large, the Falcons’ brightest highlight in Wednesday’s joint training camp practice with the Colts at Grand Park Sports Campus. And it was sandwiched in between two significant lows.

On the previous drive, the Falcons’ starting offense went three-and-out — in sloppy, uninspiring fashion. Tagovailoa took a sack. The Colts dropped Bijan Robinson for a loss. Tagovailoa fumbled a snap on third down.

Later in Wednesday’s practice, Tagovailoa again looked left, targeted London and tried to beat Walley. This time, Walley jumped the route, intercepted the pass and returned it for a would-be touchdown.

Tagovailoa finished 8-for-13 in full-squad reps and 3-for-3 passing in 7-on-7s, but only one of his completions — the jump ball to London — traveled more than 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. The Colts defense pestered Tagovailoa, who had five dumpoffs to Robinson and also took multiple sacks.

After a performance in the preseason opener that left him “disappointed and frustrated,” Tagovailoa needed to bounce back Wednesday in Westfield. He didn’t make a particularly resounding statement, but the 28-year-old signal-caller still felt the offense had a solid day.

“I think it went well with our first-team, second-team, third-team series,” Tagovailoa said after practice. “We had some things we wanted back, and there’s some things we can look to clean up as well. But I think overall, it went pretty well. Can’t turn the ball over. That’s step No. 1.”

Tagovailoa cited ball placement as the primary takeaway from his interception, which kicked off the first of two series in a “move the ball” period designed to give offenses the chance to drive 75 yards downfield.

But another factor, Tagovailoa said, is being on the same page as London during the route.

Tagovailoa, who’s now banked 24 practices this summer between OTAs, minicamp and training camp, is still in the chemistry-building stage of his acclimation to the offense.

“Continuing to gain confidence with the guys, continuing to build confidence with the plays, the scheme, things like that,” Tagovailoa said. “So, it’s a daily thing that you continue to work on. The more reps you can get, the more comfortable you feel with it, and you move from there.”

Tagovailoa appears to have hit something of a slump in the dog days of summer.

Quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt told reporters Aug. 11 he believed Tagovailoa was starting to “come on” after a four-practice span in which he completed 25 of 35 passes and went 5-for-7 on throws greater than 20 yards downfield.

But in three practices since, he’s 18-for-31 in 11-on-11s with two interceptions. That, coupled with two scoreless drives in a 27-7 loss to the Broncos in the exhibition opener, hasn’t helped Tagovailoa’s case to cement himself as the starter.

Tagovailoa, however, feels he’s trending in the right direction within the system.

“I think we’re continuing to grow,” he said. “Figuring out the guys that run routes certain ways or how they run their routes, how they’re coming out of it, the level of comfort in which guys thrive on certain routes, things like that.”

The Falcons have a few weeks before opening the season Sept. 13 against the Steelers. Tagovailoa, asked if he believes he has enough time to reach the level he desires to operate the offense, said he doesn’t think he has a choice.

“When it’s game time, it’s game time,” Tagovailoa said. “You better be ready.”

But Tagovailoa acknowledged he has plenty of room to grow.

“I think I need to improve every day,” he said. “I’m not looking at a set goal of when I need to be improved by. I’m just looking to improve every day within this offense, grow within this scheme, feeling comfortable in it enough to where I can see everything. I can see where guys are going to be, what he’s calling if the headset goes out.”

At the root of Tagovailoa’s growth is a comfort in asking questions. After plays, he’ll often approach receivers with a bevy of questions. What did you think of that? What are you feeling? Did you like it? Did you not like it?

Tagovailoa relays their answers to offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and often adds his own input. “Hey, let’s try to run more of these routes with this guy,” he’ll tell Rees. Or, if the receiver didn’t like the route or timing, Tagovailoa will encourage Rees to move that player away from the specific route in question.

“Getting them to communicate to me and not kind of going to their coach like, ‘Hey, let’s talk to each other,’” Tagovailoa said. “That’s how we’re going to go out there and be able to feel comfortable to see whatever route it is.

“If you’re breaking this way or this way, I’ve got to know that, not the coaches as much. We’ve got to be on the same page.”

London, who saw five targets from Tagovailoa on Wednesday and collectively leads the Falcons in receiving during training camp, believes he and Tagovailoa have made significant strides with their chemistry.

There’s been a minor adjustment needed on London’s end to catch passes from Tagovailoa. Largely regarded as an elite anticipatory passer, Tagovailoa often lets the ball leave his left hand before receivers exit their break.

So, for London, that means getting his head around sooner and his hands up quicker. He feels he’s adapted well.

London said he feels the Falcons’ offense is game-ready, and he thought Tagovailoa showed well for himself Wednesday.

“He looked good,” London said. “He looked poised. He’s running the offense how he should be, and, again, we’re just adding more building blocks to this museum, man.”

The Falcons haven’t named a starting quarterback, and they don’t appear particularly close to a final decision. They’re still awaiting Michael Penix Jr.’s return to full participation, as Penix, now nine months removed from tearing his left ACL in November, is still restricted to 7-on-7 and can’t do team drills.

Coach Kevin Stefanski said he’s “comfortable” with the team’s quarterback situation.

Tagovailoa, with Penix limited, had a chance to seize the job this summer. He may ultimately lead the offense into the huddle Week 1 in Pittsburgh, but he didn’t necessarily help his cause Wednesday.