Inside Falcons’ chaotic QB room entering Week 1: ‘Welcome to the NFL’

FLOWERY BRANCH — Maybe he’s sticking to coachspeak, or perhaps he’s jaded after starting 13 quarterbacks across six seasons with the Cleveland Browns, but Kevin Stefanski said he isn’t taken aback by the Falcons’ chaotic signal-caller carousel.

A summer-long competition left the Falcons to announce Tua Tagovailoa as their starting quarterback Monday. Three days later, he injured his oblique. On Friday, the team ruled him out. Veteran backup Cooper Rush, the team’s third-string when all options are healthy, will start Week 1 start against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Unbelievable, no?

“Not for me,” Stefanski deadpanned.

The Falcons “adjusted things” within their practice structure, Stefanski said, and made a few changes to their game plan. Their depth chart has been shaken to its core, but the show goes on.

“This is football. Welcome to the NFL,” Stefanski said. “Guys need to step up, and we need to rally behind guys, and that’s just how it operates.”

Stefanski doesn’t believe he’s ever had his starting quarterback get hurt midweek. Receiver Olamide Zaccheaus said the same.

“But here we are,” Zaccheaus said.

The Falcons still have four quarterbacks on the active roster. None of them are in the same position now as they were this time a week ago. Here’s where things stand in the Falcons’ frenetic quarterback room.

Cooper Rush

The biggest challenge facing Rush is time on task. Aside from a two-minute drill the first week of training camp nearly a month-and-a-half ago, he hadn’t practiced with the starting offense until Thursday. He’ll enter Sunday with two practices and a walk-through’s worth of reps with the first-team unit.

Zaccheaus acknowledged it’s a short time period, but he said the unit will make the most of the reps they received. Stefanski, meanwhile, believes Rush has enough time to get caught up to speed and be in sync with the rest of the offense.

“That’s the life of a backup quarterback,” Stefanski said. “Now, in an ideal world, would you love to have gotten every rep? Of course. That’s a no-brainer. But I do think there’s examples of guys that come in with no reps, and sometimes it’s after the first play, sometimes it’s on play 59, whatever it is, and you’re expected to compete, and you’re expected to hold the standard of the room — in this case, the quarterback room.

“So, Cooper’s been a backup in his career. He’s been a starter. He knows how to prepare.”

Several of Rush’s teammates — Zaccheaus, right guard Chris Lindstrom and receiver Zachariah Branch — have voiced support of the 32-year-old signal caller.

“I have a lot of confidence in him,” Branch said. “Just the way he came out here Day 1, being able to call plays with a whole new offense. He’s been in the league for a long time as well. He’s done it at a high level, so very confident in his abilities.”

Jack Strand

An undrafted rookie from Division II Minnesota State-Moorhead, Strand will be the Falcons’ backup quarterback Sunday. He didn’t take a single practice snap aside from walk-throughs between the preseason finale Aug. 28 and Tagovailoa’s injury Sept. 9, but the 22-year-old said he’s ready if his number is called.

“Even throughout this week, up until I found out I was going to be QB2, I was still prepping like I was going to be the starter, because that’s just how it has to be for any quarterback in the room,” Strand said Friday. “You got to be ready to go.

“If you’re a QB3, you’re two plays away from going in. If you’re a QB2, you’re one play away from going in. So, my mentality, the prep, everything, that hasn’t changed. It’s all stayed the same.”

Strand entered the week watching film with the idea that, if he saw tendencies from the Steelers’ defense, he could help Tagovailoa prepare. He acknowledged there’s now a marginal difference in his head, knowing he’s only one play away from being on the field instead of two.

The 6-foot-4, 240-pounder who flashed in the preseason plans to approach Sunday like any other game, even if it proves to be the unlikeliest of NFL debuts.

“Just got to be ready to go in,” Strand said. “Whatever happens, got to know the game plan, got to be able to execute it. (I have) belief in myself, belief in the guys around me if that moment comes.”

Tua Tagovailoa

The Falcons ruled out Tagovailoa on Friday. He didn’t participate in practice and was not on the field with the team during the session’s media viewing period.

Stefanski said he doesn’t have a medical degree and declined to say whether the injury is a strain or a tweak, but he expects the injury to be short-term, to the tune of day-to-day.

“Disappointed for him,” Stefanski said. “Obviously, he’s a very competitive person, so disappointed, but he’s going to rally behind Cooper and do everything he can to help Cooper.”

Michael Penix Jr.

Stefanski labeled Penix inactive on Monday, and the 26-year-old quarterback said he was “really close” to being back but wasn’t quite there yet. He’s been medically cleared from the torn ACL he suffered last November but wants to strengthen his knee and continue to build confidence in it.

There was no possibility, Stefanski said, of reversing course on their initial decision and making Penix active.

“Mike will be ready when he’s ready,” Stefanski said. “I trust in this process. I trust in what we’re doing medically. I trust Mike.”

Stefanski was asked if he’d be confident saying Penix could be ready next week.

“As you can imagine, I’m not going to get into next week,” Stefanski said. “Like Mike told you guys, he’s getting really, really close to being 100%, being ready to go. And when that time comes, I’ll let you guys know.”

The emergency quarterback situation

In the event Rush and Strand both go down with injuries, Stefanski said the Falcons have a plan in place for their third-string, emergency quarterback — but it won’t be a true signal caller.