FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. will not play in the Atlanta Falcons’ final preseason game on Friday, but head coach Kevin Stefanski is not ruling him out as an option to start the team’s regular-season opener on Sept. 13.“I’m not going to get into Week 1,” Stefanski said Wednesday. “I am best served, and we’re best served (by) keeping it day to day. This was an important week for Mike, the first time with people around him. I thought it was a really good first step for him, but outside of this week, I don’t think it’s fair to go beyond that.”Penix was only cleared for 11-on-11 work late last week, and Stefanski said it didn’t make sense to play him in a live game due to his acclimation process.Is Michael Penix Jr. the Atlanta Falcons long-term answer at quarterback?Robert Mays and Derrik KlassenStefanski plans on naming a starter “whenever they tell me I have to,” he said.“I’m honestly not trying to be coy,” he said. “We will focus on what information is available to us. Every day you’re just trying to make decisions on who is available to you.”
Tua Tagovailoa, who has been competing with Penix for the QB1 role, will start against his former team, the Miami Dolphins, in the final preseason game.Penix did not press to play against the Dolphins, he said.“I only have three practices under my belt in 11-on-11,” he said. “Not everybody will say it, but anytime it’s your first time out there 11-on-11, it’s moving fast. You have to slow that down and get more reps and get comfortable. … Let me get my feet wet a little bit.”However, Penix said he will be ready to play Week 1 if he wins the starting job.“Yeah, I feel great,” he said. “Each and every day, I am getting more confident. As long as I keep on the track that I’m on, I definitely feel like I will be where I need to be physically and mentally to be confident going out there Week 1.”Tagovailoa took the vast majority of the snaps against the scout-team defense in Wednesday’s practice. Cooper Rush will relieve Tagovailoa against Miami, and undrafted free agent rookie Jack Strand will also play, Stefanski said. Tagovailoa had one of his best practice days of training camp Wednesday, but he and Penix have both had good and bad days in the last month.Penix is coming back from his third season-ending ACL tear, but he said Wednesday that he had a different procedure this time than the first two in an attempt to make the knee more structurally sound for the long term.“I do feel like each day since my first day out there, I am getting better and more confident,” he said.
