Tua Tagovailoa’s Atlanta Falcons debut featured three plays.
He completed a pass to Bijan Robinson. Then he completed a pass to Drake London.
The problem came on the third play, his second snap in overtime, when he threw the ball into someone’s arms again — but this time it was Baltimore Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton.
Because the Ravens had already scored a TD, that Hamilton interception ended the ball game.
It’s hard to have an interception directly conclude a game, but that’s what Tagovailoa did. His third Falcons pass, on his third Falcons play, was a game-loser.
That was Week 5 on Sunday Night Football after Michael Penix Jr. left the game with a ribs injury.
But in Week 6, when the Falcons play the Chicago Bears in a big afternoon game on Sunday, Tagovailoa won’t be on the field.
Why Isn’t Tua Tagovailoa Playing Today?
Tagovailoa has returned to his backup role for Week 6.
Penix had a ribs injury, but it became clear pretty early in the preparation for Week 6 that it wouldn’t keep him out for a full game.
The third-year QB Penix actually said after Sunday night that if the Falcons had gotten the ball first in OT, he would’ve taken the field. Sitting while the Ravens had the ball made him tighten up, and so the Falcons went with Tagovailoa.
It was a tricky spot for Tua, who hadn’t played in any of the first four weeks of the season.
Tagovailoa had been out for Weeks 1 and 2 when he sustained an oblique injury that prevented him from starting those games with Penix still out.
Now healthy, Tagovailoa is just the QB2 in Atlanta right now, not the QB1.
Did Falcons Bench Tua Tagovailoa?
No, the Falcons didn’t bench Tua.
He was in the game in Week 5 because of Penix’s injury, not for any other reason. So it wouldn’t be fair to call what has happened now a benching.
If Penix wasn’t healthy and the Falcons had still opted not to play Tua, then you could call this a benching.
In this case, though, Tagovailoa retains his usual role as Penix’s backup.
Cooper Rush remains the QB3, and Jack Strand is inactive as the QB4.
Tagovailoa remains one play away. If Penix has any injury issues at all, it’ll be Tagovailoa back into the football game. And he’ll be trying to wipe away the bad memories and move forward in his Atlanta career in a better direction.
Why Tua Tagovailoa Isn’t Playing QB For Falcons After Game-Losing INT