For as alarming as the Michael Penix Jr. update that came out yesterday was, the bigger concern was hearing that Tua Tagovailoa was injured. Having one half of the Atlanta Falcons' quarterback battle be less than 100% was worrisome enough, but having both of them be unable to go through the team period was a nightmare--especially with undrafted rookie Jack Strand taking first-team reps.
Yesterday, we heard Kevin Stefanski say that Tagovailoa has a "minor flare-up" in his back and is expected to be back out there "sooner rather than later". For a quarterback with his injury history, most of the time we're sounding the alarm, but thankfully, these concerns were quickly squashed.
While he didn't participate in the first session, it seems that Stefanski wasn't kidding. The AJC's Daniel Flick reported that Tua was out on the field to start Thursday's practice session getting loose, and seeing him do that in itself is a more positive development than anything we received yesterday.
Tua Tagovailoa was spotted back at Atlanta Falcons practice on Thursday
Thankfully, the good news doesn't even end there. Flick noted that while the 28-year-old didn't go through warmup drills, he was spotted throwing during the routes on air portion of Thursday morning's session-- which means he's clearly feeling a lot better than he did even 24 hours before.
Given Penix may not be cleared for full contact for another four weeks potentially, the Dirty Birds getting Tagovailoa a little closer to full strength is a major development. Not only is he the expected frontrunner to be the Week 1 starting quarterback, the more healthy reps he gets in camp, the better.
The former Pro Bowler has played a full 17-game season just once in his career, so him dealing with minor back issues on the first day of camp was alarming. But considering we now know that it's not a major concern and is already back at practice, it's safe to say this won't be an issue in a month's time.
It isn't even August yet and the Falcons' season opener isn't until Sept. 13, so that "sooner rather than later" timeline turned out to not be a concern at all. It's not like it's anything serious either, just something that kept him out for a day--but the Alabama product knows not to make it a bigger issue.
In all honesty, Atlanta dodged a massive bullet here. Strand is exciting and all, but as long as Penix is limited in practice, the Falcons need Tua Tagovailoa to be a full go. So for as worrisome as Stefanski's comments were, his presence at Thursday's practice proved there's nothing to worry about and the bounce-back campaign is still in full force.
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