Former Miami Dolphins left tackle Terron Armstead appeared on NFL on CBS this week and made it clear where he stands - When asked which QB he would like to see start for the Atlanta Falcons, Armstead immediately chose Tua Tagovailoa-- a former teammate of his from his time in Miami.
"I would love to see Tua," Armstead said. "Listen, I am a Tua guy."
That endorsement comes at an interesting time for the Falcons. Tua was originally named Atlanta's Week 1 starter, only for an oblique injury in practice to force Cooper Rush into the lineup against the Pittsburgh Steelers--and with both Tua and Michael Penix Jr. still hurt, he'll start again in Week 2.
"There's a lot of weapons down in Atlanta," Armstead said. "A lot of talent that he can use and use those guys to really get back to form."
Stefanski did say that Tua was getting better but was never a real part of the quarterback conversation against the Panthers. He didn't practice all week and is doubtful to play-- and the QB issues make Armstead's comments more relevant than they might have been a week ago.
The Atlanta Falcons still need to find out what Tua Tagovailoa can do
Now Tua Tagovailoa's last season in Miami wasn't what he expected to see from the quarterback. Armstead also said he believes Tua needs time and repetitions to rebuild his confidence in Atlanta--especially considering we've only seen a limited sample size of him in this offense in the preseason, and a pretty rough one at that.
"I'm so optimistic," Armstead said. "The Tua that played last year is not the Tua that we know and love."
That doesn't guarantee anything for the Falcons since Tua still has to prove he can stay healthy and play well enough to justify the team's original decision to sign him in free agency.
But the Falcons also have a pretty obvious reason to find out. Atlanta's offense has Bijan Robinson, Drake London and Kyle Pitts. Robinson alone accounted for 173 scrimmage yards in the season opener, while the Falcons' passing game struggled to create much downfield with Rush at QB…
It seems that MIchael Penix Jr. will take over as the starter once he returns from his ACL tear--whenever that may be, but Stefanski hasn't closed the door on Tua getting his shot. "We're working through it," Stefanski said Wednesday. "I'm not ruling anyone out."
That's about as much uncertainty as a team can have at quarterback one week into a season.
The Falcons don't need Armstead to tell them Tua is the answer. They already made that decision once. What Atlanta needs now is a chance to see whether that decision was right.
If Tagovailoa can get healthy and return to practice, the Falcons may have a much easier decision on their hands than the current quarterback chaos suggests. And if Armstead is right about there being another version of Tua waiting to come back, Atlanta has plenty of weapons for him to work with.
Add us as a preferred source on Google