The Atlanta Falcons held their most competitive practice of training camp on Friday, even if Michael Penix Jr. didn’t have his best day on the field.
The Falcoholic’s Kevin Knight reported from Flowery Branch that Day 3 carried noticeably more energy than the first two, with heavy 1-on-1, 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 work spread across the morning. All four quarterbacks were on the field. Only two of them practiced fully.
Penix remained limited to individual drills, 1-on-1s and 7-on-7s, the same restricted menu he has been on since camp opened Wednesday. Jack Strand and Cooper Rush handled the complete workload, while Tua Tagovailoa took part in nearly everything except full-speed team reps.
Within the portion Penix was allowed to run, the defense won the morning. Knight noted that Falcons defensive backs broke up almost every throw Penix attempted in the red zone.
Michael Penix Jr. Struggles In Red Zone Work At Falcons Camp
Penix finished 6-of-8 in 7-on-7 drills with a 50-yard touchdown just the day before. That makes things sting even more.
Swings like that tend to follow a quarterback who is being rationed. Penix tore his ACL in November against Carolina, was cleared to throw in March, and still has not taken a single 11-on-11 snap. Stefanski said Wednesday that he doesn’t know exactly when full clearance will arrive.
Stefanski also told reporters the Falcons intend to play starters in the first and third preseason games, though he stopped short of saying what that means for either quarterback. But his response was quite telling.
“In general, to get ready to play football, you have to play football,” Stefanski said, per The Athletic’s Josh Kendall.
For 52 players on the roster, that is ordinary coaching. For the quarterback room, it’s alarming, especially for Penix, who has a much more difficult path to earn the starting job over Tagovailoa.
Tua Tagovailoa Returns As Falcons QB Competition Takes Shape
Tagovailoa missed the first day of camp with lower back tightness, an absence serious enough that Atlanta pulled Rush off a workout near his Dallas home, flew him in overnight and released Trevor Siemian the same morning. By Friday, Tagovailoa was working a walkthrough period at roughly half speed, according to ESPN’s Marc Raimondi.
“I feel good. It feels good to be out there with the guys,” he said.
He also told reporters this is the first time he has dealt with this particular back issue, and that the Falcons are treating it as short-term maintenance.
“Right now it’s just a precaution thing,” Tagovailoa said.
Behind them, the reps keep going to somebody else. Knight described Rush stringing together three straight completions during a team period and picking up the system quickly, while Strand, an undrafted rookie out of Division II Minnesota State-Moorhead, continues drawing praise for holding his own with the first unit.
All four passers are learning Tommy Rees’ offense from scratch. Two of them have spent three days running it against a live defense, one has spent three days watching from a side field, and Stefanski has now attached preseason snaps to how he plans to evaluate the group.
Falcons’ QB Battle Takes Another Turn Against Michael Penix Jr.