The Atlanta Falcons could have to adjust their plans.
The Atlanta Falcons are days away from the opener on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, a showdown which Tua Tagovailoa is supposed to start according to the plan announced Monday.
During Thursday's practice though, Tagovailoa may have suffered an aggravation to a back issue he dealt with early in camp which has folks panicking. According to numerous reports including Marc Raimondi of ESPN, Tagovailoa touched his back and sat down on the grass briefly during the media viewing portion of practice.
He did not throw again while media was watching, and after he missed the first few days of camp last month with a back issue, there is real concern that he may be dealing with a flare up of an issue there.
Should that be the case, Atlanta is in a tough spot headed into Week 1.
Cooper Rush Would Likely Start Week 1 for Falcons if Tua is Out
More will be revealed when Atlanta shares the injury report, however if Tagovailoa is dealing with an issue serious enough to threaten his status for Sunday, it would likely mean Cooper Rush being thrust into action.
The Falcons raised eyebrows when they kept four quarterbacks on the initial roster, but this could be exactly why they did if they are understandably not comfortable throwing undrafted rookie Jack Strand out there to make his debut.
If Rush did have to step in, Strand would likely serve as the backup, and a tough matchup in Pittsburgh against one of the best pass rushes in football gets even more difficult. It would likely be an extremely vanilla game plan to keep Rush out of trouble and allow the offense to flow through Bijan Robinson. That only works for so long if there is no real passing threat though, and it would be tough to see Rush going out and slinging the ball around.
While there is not a huge amount of faith in Tagovailoa among the fanbase and media, unquestionably he is the best option for the Falcons until Michael Penix Jr. can get back on the field.
Fans will await the injury report, but it's not a great headline just days before the start of the season as Atlanta prepares to hit the road and pull off an upset victory. Should Tagovailoa indeed have to miss time, count on Rush holding down the fort to start the season for the Falcons.
