Tua Tagovailoa’s first game in an Atlanta Falcons uniform was one to forget. The veteran quarterback fumbled a snap, finished 3-of-5 for 22 yards and posted a 39.6 passer rating in Friday’s preseason loss to the Denver Broncos.
It was exactly the kind of debut the Falcons didn’t need from a quarterback already facing questions about whether he should start Week 1.
Tua Tagovailoa Struggles in Falcons’ Preseason Debut vs. Broncos
Head coach Kevin Stefanski gave Tagovailoa a short leash to begin with, telling reporters the veteran would play either the first series or the first 10 plays. It didn’t go well.
The trouble started immediately. On the second play of the game, Tagovailoa mishandled the snap and fell on the ball for a four-yard loss. The drive ended in a three-and-out and a punt.
Because the opening series was so short, Tagovailoa got a second one under the 10-play threshold. That drive produced his lone highlight, an 11-yard completion to tight end Kyle Pitts for a first down, before it too stalled out and ended in a punt.
By the time Tagovailoa handed off to Cooper Rush, the Falcons trailed 7-0. His final line: 3-of-5 for 22 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions and a 39.6 rating, with all four of his targets going to Pitts. He also faced heavy pressure, as Denver opened with its starting defense.
Stefanski wasn’t ready to read much into it.
“Stefanski said it’s hard to give a grade on Tua’s sample size,” ESPN’s Marc Raimondi reported, and the coach reiterated that Atlanta isn’t rushing to name a Week 1 starter.
Analysts Sound Off on Tua Tagovailoa’s Rough Falcons Debut
The performance didn’t get such a measured reaction elsewhere. Analysts at Pro Football Network unloaded on Tagovailoa as the clips circulated.
“Tua looks impossibly bad,” fantasy analyst Jason Katz wrote. “Zero chance he holds off Michael Penix the entire season. Probably doesn’t make it to November.”
Others leaned on Tagovailoa’s history. PFN’s Matt Infante, who covers the Miami Dolphins, pointed to the fumble.
“Tua’s good for one of these per game,” Infante wrote. “Some things never change.”
PFN CEO Matt Cannata kept it short: “Tua is who he is.”
The reaction wasn’t universal. Some fans pushed back on the overreaction, arguing that a handful of snaps against a live starting defense tells almost nothing about a quarterback in a brand-new system. But the loudest takes ran the other way, and most of them circled back to the same name.
That, of course, Michael Penix Jr. Atlanta signed Tagovailoa this offseason as insurance for Penix, the 2024 first-round pick who remains sidelined while recovering from a torn ACL. Penix still hasn’t been cleared for 11-on-11 work, which is the only reason Tagovailoa drew the start in the first place. Until Penix is back, the job is Tagovailoa’s to lose, and Friday did nothing to strengthen his grip on it.
There’s a case for patience, though.. Tagovailoa is learning a new offense for the first time in years, missed the start of camp with back tightness, and played the entire night against Denver’s first-team defense in a meaningless game. One rough series, or two, in August isn’t the end all be all.
But for a Falcons team that has spent all summer answering questions at quarterback, Tagovailoa’s debut only added to them. The sample was small, as Stefanski said. It just wasn’t very encouraging.
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