Tua Tagovailoa was in line to begin the season as the starting quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons before he suffered an oblique injury days before their Week 1 contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Cooper Rush started the Falcons in the first two weeks while Michael Penix Jr. continued to prepare to return from the third ACL injury of his career. Penix made his first start against the Green Bay Packers on "Thursday Night Football" in Week 3 with the Falcons desperately needing to earn their first win of the season.
Penix went 18 of 25 passing for 256 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in a 35-14 win over the Packers. He's the undisputed starting quarterback for the team moving forward, and Tagovailoa is serving as his backup. More News: Exclusive: Breakout NFL Executives Who Could Become Future General Managers More News: 4 QBs Generating Serious Trade Buzz Weeks Before NFL Regular Season Starts On Tuesday, Tagovailoa told reporters that he still views his situation in Atlanta "as a competition" for the starting job.
At the same time, the No. 5 pick in the 2020 draft says he wants to help Penix win games. "I'm always going to look at it as a competition," Tagovailoa said, via Marc Raimondi with ESPN. "But as I said, this is the job description right now.
We have to do everything we can to support him, and we're going to support him." Tagovailoa signed with the Falcons on the league minimum in the offseason after the Miami Dolphins released him in March. Tagovailoa clearly believes he's good enough to start in the league. It remains to be seen if he'll push for a trade before the deadline on Nov. 10 if he's not getting a chance to play for the Falcons this season.
In the meantime, Tagovailoa is helping to answer any questions Penix, the No. 8 pick in the 2024 draft, has this fall. "You've got to do everything you can to make sure you're not the reason he's failing," Tagovailoa said. "So, that's where I look at my job being right now for Mike and whatever he needs in terms of off-the-field film, extra throws, questions, whatever it is, whatever that looks like.
That's what my job description entails right now." The Falcons have undrafted rookie Jack Strand and Rush on the 53-man roster. Both quarterbacks struggled during the first two games of the season. Tagovailoa provides Atlanta a suitable backup for Penix, a young quarterback with a lengthy injury history.
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