The Atlanta Falcons may not have a battle after all.
The Atlanta Falcons are a couple of days into training camp and all offseason long, the narrative was about the impending quarterback battle between Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. to see who would start Week 1.
As it turned out, neither lefty was on the field in full capacity to get the week started, and while Tagovailoa is expected to return to full action this upcoming week, the story with Penix is a whole lot less optimistic. Fans got their answer as to whether or not he would be fully cleared for the start of camp, and not only was the answer no, but it may be a whole lot longer.
Letting it slip that it could be as many as four weeks, Penix's reveal points to him not having enough time to try to win the job. NFL insider Judy Battista sees that to mean the battle is over and Tagovailoa will start the year.
Battista Says Battle May Be Over in Favor of Tagovailoa
"What this basically means is there is no quarterback competition for the Atlanta Falcons as we thought there might be," Battista said. "[Tagovailoa] is going to be the starting quarterback at least going into the start of the season...as long as they can manage the back issue that Tua is having, it's going to be his job with Michael Penix unfortunately unable to even practice."
Battista correctly pointed out that Penix being out for four weeks from the start of camp would have him back on the field in a full capacity just two weeks before the season opener, while Tagovailoa would have close to a month of 11 on 11 reps to lock things down.
Penix may very well play this year, but rushing a guy back who has dealt with now numerous ACL issues just so he can compete for the job in camp simply is not in the best long-term interest of the team.
Tagovailoa meanwhile seemingly will get the chance to hit the reset button on his career, and if he can perform at a high level, he may not give the job back to Penix. What this means for the future remains to be seen, but Stefanski has offered serious praise to Tua since he got the job and brought him in.
Atlanta may wind up right back in the quarterback market next offseason, but to begin the first season of the Stefanski era, it looks like the former Alabama star is going to be the guy for now.
