The Atlanta Falcons have one of the more intriguing position battles in the NFL entering the 2026 season, as Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. are dueling for the starting quarterback gig. Both guys have their pros and cons, but right now Tagovailoa has the inside track to earning the job, simply because he is healthier than Penix.
With Penix continuing to recover from a partially torn ACL, the Falcons unsurprisingly revealed that Tagovailoa will draw the start in their preseason opener. Until Penix gets fully healthy, it doesn’t seem like he will have a fair fight, but according to one insider, he is actually further along in his injury rehab than initially expected.
Michael Penix Jr. Draws Encouraging Injury Update
Penix has had quite an odd start to his NFL career, and that may be putting it lightly. Even though the Falcons had just signed Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract in free agency, the front office still decided to select Penix with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. As if that wasn’t already confusing enough, Penix wasn’t expected to come off the board until the second round.
After initially sitting behind Cousins to begin his career, Penix eventually took over as the starter late in 2024, before reprising his role last year. In nine games, Penix was mediocre at best (166/276, 1,982 YDS, 9 TD, 3 INT) before he suffered his aforementioned ACL injury, which ended his season prematurely.
Atlanta decided to cut its losses on Cousins this offseason, as it released him and scooped up Tagovailoa on a one-year, $1.2 million contract to come in and compete with Penix for the starting job. Penix’s health has taken the suspense out of the quarterback competition, but according to Jay Glazer of Fox Sports, the former Washington Huskies star actually looked much better than he was expecting during his time at the Falcons’ training camp earlier this month.
“Saw that Michael Penix said he can do everything except take a hit. I was actually shocked at how much he COULD do when I went to Falcons camp earlier this week,” Glazer wrote in a post on X. “He was rolling out, throwing on the run looking like he had no issues. I didn’t realize he was that far along until I saw it. Still, though, they say he has more steps to go.”
Michael Penix Jr. Hoping to Make Falcons’ Quarterback Competition Interesting
GettyFLOWERY BRANCH, GEORGIA – JULY 29: Michael Penix Jr. #9 of the Atlanta Falcons runs through drills during training camp at IBM Performance Field on July 29, 2026 in Flowery Branch, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
The Falcons obviously aren’t going to rush Penix back just for the sake of creating a competition at the quarterback position, but it will be interesting to see if he can apply some pressure to Tagovailoa before the start of the season. Whether or not Penix will even be ready for Week 1 is unknown, but there’s no doubt he’s going to factor into the mix at quarterback one way or another this year.
For now, the starting job is Tagovailoa’s to lose, but he will almost certainly have a short leash once Penix gets fully healthy. Tagovailoa has had his own injury issues throughout his career, so Atlanta is likely going to want to be cautious with him as well. The dynamic of the Falcons’ quarterback room is a major storyline, and Penix’s injury situation is going to be worth monitoring as training camp continues to roll forward.
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