Jack Strand is not going to make the quarterback decision easy for the Atlanta Falcons. The undrafted free-agent rookie looked to be falling out of the race for the No. 3 spot over the last week, but his performance Saturday in a 34-6 preseason win over the Indianapolis Colts puts him right back into the conversation.The Division II product out of Minnesota State Moorhead entered the game late in the second quarter and completed eight of his first nine passes. Strand finished the day 12-of-17 for 212 yards with a touchdown through the air and had 22 yards and a 16-yard score on the ground. Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski sidestepped a question about Strand’s performance to praise both of his quarterbacks. Veteran Cooper Rush started the game and finished 10-of-11 for 86 yards.“I thought both those guys made good decisions,” Stefanski said. “There were some unique looks that we got during the game that we haven’t seen a ton of in the last week, and I thought they both saw it clearly. The ball went where the ball was supposed to go the majority of the time.”Top Plays from Falcons @ ColtsStrand’s performance spoke for itself, though. The 6-foot-5, 240-pounder finished with a passer rating of 132.5 and had completions of 36, 35, 22, 21 and 19 yards. It was an especially impressive effort considering he didn’t get any team work during the Falcons’ two days of joint practices against the Colts earlier in the week, while Cooper took all the second-team snaps. With the return of Michael Penix Jr. to 11-on-11 work Monday (the No. 8 pick in the 2024 draft was cleared by his doctor on Thursday), he and Tua Tagovailoa will now compete for the starting job, with the odd man out falling to the second position.Stefanski has not decided whether he will keep two or three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster, but Atlanta also will have 16 practice-squad spots available. Practice-squad players can be claimed by other teams if those teams put the claimed player on their 53-man roster. It’s doubtful Strand has reached that level of value around the league, but there would be some risk involved in trying to keep him on the practice squad.More pep in their stepWhile Strand’s performance was Saturday’s most noticeable development, the most important one might have come in the first quarter when the Falcons were flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after nearly a dozen starters who did not dress for the game sprinted 50 yards onto the field to celebrate with Tyler Goodson after his 49-yard touchdown run.It was a striking departure from the first three weeks of training camp when Atlanta was very professional and almost understated in its preparations for the season. President of football Matt Ryan said during the team’s television broadcast that having more energy was an emphasis Saturday, and Stefanski said he pre-approved the celebration penalty.“That was something we talked about,” he said. “I said I would allow for one excessive celebration penalty. Just one. They took me up on my offer.”