Unsettled QB derby makes a statement on Falcons’ season outlook

FLOWERY BRANCH – In an ideal world, Falcons general manager Ian Cunningham wouldn’t have had to spend part of his Wednesday acknowledging that not only had the team not decided on its starting quarterback, but that it might not even be a two-man competition.

Really, it wouldn’t even have to be ideal. The Falcons might settle for a world in which the fates don’t stand in their way on a daily basis, reporting for duty every morning with the loyalty and diligence of a pack of well-trained German Shepherds.

Basically, it would seem, Tua Tagovailoa couldn’t perform the job well enough in training camp while Michael Penix Jr. was not cleared from his ACL tear.

So, the Falcons’ options are: a) a quarterback who was not cleared for contact until training camp was nearly over and hasn’t been in a game since November or b) a quarterback who was unable to convince coaches that he is more fit to be the starter than a).

Is there a third choice?

If you can believe it, maybe.

Cunningham was asked if undrafted rookie Jack Strand or career backup Cooper Rush, the latter signed at the start of training camp, were possibilities to start.

“I can’t answer that,” Cunningham said. “I can’t answer that if all four quarterbacks could start Week 1.”

Meanwhile, with the season opener at Pittsburgh less than two weeks away, the other 31 NFL teams have all determined their plan for what they’ll do at arguably the most important position in sports.

As reflexive as it might be to conclude, the Falcons haven’t necessarily botched this situation. They would have wanted Tagovailoa, trying to prove himself as a No. 1 quarterback after his performance declined with the Miami Dolphins, to seize the opportunity.

And it would have been better if Penix could have been cleared sooner to get exhibition-game snaps and more 11-on-11 work in practice to prep him for the season opener.

But neither happened.

Having four quarterbacks on the 53-man roster isn’t ideal, either. Many teams carry only two.

But the Falcons are keeping Rush because of Penix and Tagovailoa’s injury history. And they were impressed enough by Strand to keep him as a possible option in the future.

At different points in the news conference, Cunningham said, “That’s the hand that we were dealt” and “Those are the cards that we were dealt.”

The Falcons: Playing against a rigged deck since 1966.

As this franchise does, it will reach its decision collaboratively. Cunningham was asked who has the final say on the matter among the triumvirate of president of football Matt Ryan, coach Kevin Stefanski and Cunningham.

“I still feel like that’s us talking,” he said. “We talk constantly. We talk about every single position. Every position on this roster, we’ve discussed what we think, but ultimately, when they’re ready, when the coaches are ready, when the players are ready, we’ll make that decision.”

Makes you wonder what it’s like when they order pizza.

Regardless, it doesn’t bode well for this season if, at this late juncture, the franchise can’t even answer what would seem the most fundamental question about the roster, and not because the options are all so appealing.

Also not terribly encouraging: As of Wednesday, after an offseason in which the team’s message was that it was trying to raise the floor of the roster, none of the players cut by the Falcons had been signed to any other teams’ 53-man rosters, while the Falcons claimed three players off waivers.

This isn’t to say that the Ryan/Stefanski/Cunningham Falcons won’t have much better days as they try to end the eight-year playoff drought, the second-longest in the NFL.

Just that there’s much work yet to do. They can start by naming a quarterback.