Things are changing for the Atlanta Falcons. As opposed to the Falcons head coaches that preceeded him, Kevin Stefanski confirmed how things would look this preseason, which led him to confirm that the starters will see some action during the preseason, even if it will not be a lot of it.
When Stefanski confirmed the Falcons would be playing their starters on Friday night against the Denver Broncos, he never confirmed which quarterbacks we'll see. But while addressing the media prior to Wednesday's practice, he confirmed that Tua Tagovailoa will get the start as we expected.
Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski says Tua Tagovailoa will start the preseason opener against the Broncos.
— Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) August 12, 2026
Starters will play a series, maybe 10 plays, and see which comes first. They'll vary playing time by players.
When he was last asked about the preseason gameplan, Tagovailoa was still rehabbing the back tightness that kept him out for the start of training camp, so questioning if he would suit up was a valid question. However, he's been taking part in 11-on-11s for a while now, and is clearly good to go.
"It's football. Our guys are ready to play," Stefanski said. "Looking forward to Tua getting his first game action in this system. There's a lot of newness for him as well."
Tua Tagovailoa will make his first start as an Atlanta Falcon on Friday night
This means that the 28-year-old will see his first in-game action as a member of the Falcons against a stout Broncos defense, so that should be interesting to see. But Kevin Stefanski made sure to clarify that the starters will only play "a series (to) 10 plays" as the goal is to get them ready for the season.
Obviously, since Michael Penix Jr. has yet to be cleared for full contact, he's certainly in no shape to be taking in-game reps, so we won't see him against the Broncos. However, Stefanski revealed that with joint practices with the Indianapolis Colts looming, he'll take part in joint 7-on-7s next week.
The two-time Coach of the Year also revealed how the quarterback rotation will look during this game. He revealed that the Dirty Birds will start off with Tagovailoa, allow Cooper Rush to take snaps with the second-team offense, while undrafted rookie Jack Strand will "finish the game" with the 3s.
Stefanski knows he doesn't want to put too much on Tua's plate, especially considering his injury history-- but the case is the same for all the starters. Since they aren't going to play in preseason Week 2 due to the joint practices, he wants them to capitalize against the Broncos and Dolphins.
The Falcons playing Tua Tagovailoa in their preseason opener feels risky, but Kevin Stefanski knows what he's doing, and seeing him get this start could be an intriguing sign of what's to come.
Add us as a preferred source on Google