The Atlanta Falcons could start any of their four quarterbacks this week.
The Atlanta Falcons are starting to run out of time to make a decision as to who will be the starting quarterback in Week 2 following the offensive disaster that Week 1's defeat presented.
As it turns out though, the coaching staff knows just as much as the fans when it comes to who will be under center with the Carolina Panthers coming to town. Kevin Stefanski spoke to the press on Wednesday afternoon and did not rule out any of the team's four quarterbacks as possibilities to start the game.
Interestingly, he did reveal that Tua Tagovailoa is not practicing Wednesday and that Michael Penix Jr. is a full participant, though Stefanski did not go into further details from there. Even undrafted rookie Jack Strand is in the conversation to be the Week 2 starter according to the team's head coach.
Falcons Seem to Be Buying Time to Make QB Decision
"I'd say we're working through it," Stefanski said. "I'm not ruling anyone out. Tua is not going to practice today, though he's getting better. Cooper and Mike will practice today, so we'll work through it....A decision like this, and these types of things, you just have to work through them."
Strand may be the least likely of the three to actually start the game, although he did do some very impressive things in the preseason in order to earn a spot on the roster despite his undrafted status out of Minnesota State Moorhead.
Conventional wisdom would suggest Rush is the most likely, although with the reports surrounding his back spasms even before the Week 1 game began, he is as much of a wild card as Tagovailoa or Penix as well.
It is telling that Penix is fully practicing, however if the thought from the organization was that he would not be ready for Week 1, then it seems more likely he would be held out for the first couple of weeks at least rather than just one game.
Regardless, Stefanski has a quarterback mess on his hands, and he is going to have to clean it up in order to give his team a real chance to get the first win of his tenure. Until an announcement is made, fans will be refreshing their timelines every minute, eager to hear who they will be watching in the home opener this weekend at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
