The Atlanta Falcons have not made any final calls.
The Atlanta Falcons are less than two weeks away from the start of the 2026 season and the Kevin Stefanski era, and while there are a ton of questions, by far the biggest remains at the most important position.
Michael Penix Jr. starting Week 1 became a legitimate possibility when he was fully cleared last week, and while he did not play in the preseason finale, Stefanski has not ruled out Week 1 now that he's back at practice. The presumed starter to begin the year was of course Tua Tagovailoa, but not only has he not seized the job, he's looked extremely pedestrian at times.
Apparently, the decision is still not made at this point by the coaching staff. During an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, one of football's most in the know insiders in Adam Schefter revealed that no decision has been made and Atlanta wants to evaluate Penix this week.
Falcons Will Evaluate How Penix Responds This Week
"The Falcons wanna take a look this week at Michael Penix and see how he responds, see how he physically feels when he's out there practicing for a full week 11 on 11," Schefter said. "It's down to Tua and Penix and they don't have a decision yet on what they're gonna do and I think Penix's health this week will go a long way towards determining how they do that."
Reading between the lines, it sounds like Atlanta would be leaning towards Penix is all things were equal with health, and while they are not going to rush him back, the job is his to lose if he can prove his body can physically handle it after so much time out.
Tagovailoa had every opportunity this offseason to take the reigns with Penix on the shelf, but ultimately, he didn't do it. This means that Penix still has a chance to win this job if he can prove he is ready for it despite a torn ACL last November.
Penix has the higher ceiling of the two, and if he is indeed fully back to being himself, it sounds like he has a tremendous chance this week to wind up being named the starter to begin the season. Him taking over feels more like a when than an if, so when Penix is ready, the job is his.
Time will tell if that when is indeed in the next two weeks.
