The Atlanta Falcons will go into Friday’s preseason finale against the Miami Dolphins with three quarterbacks available, but not the one many were expecting to see.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski said Wednesday that “Mike will not play,” and then laid out the plan for the game at Miami: Tua Tagovailoa will start, Cooper Rush will follow, and Jack Strand will finish the night.
Penix is also being held out because of his acclimation period. The 2024 eighth overall draft pick returned to 11-on-11 work this week after receiving medical clearance for the partially torn ACL he suffered last November. Until he was cleared to ramp up, Penix had been limited to 7-on-7 work and individual drills during training camp.
“Just got back to team drills on Monday,” Stefanski said. “So, I just felt to keep the focus on these three days and see how he came out of it. And I think he did well.”
That leaves the Falcons still sorting through their quarterback situation, with Penix competing with Tagovailoa for the starting job. Stefanski said there is no timetable for naming a QB1 for the Week 1 opener on Sept. 13 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“Not trying to be coy,” he said. “We’ll focus on what information is available to us.
This is something we need to work through. Tua was injured to start camp.
Mike’s been injured and not doing the 11-on-11. Every day, you’re just trying to make decisions based on who’s available to you.
The good news is very, very happy with our guys and the progress they’ve all made.”
Atlanta enters at 1-1, while Miami is 0-2, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. Friday at Hard Rock Stadium.
Tagovailoa will be facing the organization he spent six NFL seasons with before being released in March. Miami absorbed an NFL-record $100 million in dead cap money when it moved on from Tagovailoa.
Dead cap is money already paid to a player who is no longer on the roster. Atlanta was able to bring in Tagovailoa on the league minimum of $1.2 million, with that money going back to the Dolphins. The Falcons are dealing with a similar financial hit tied to Kirk Cousins, carrying a $22.5 million dead cap number this year and $12.5 million next season after releasing him two years into a four-year deal.
The game will air on FOX 5 Atlanta and CBS Miami.
In Other News...
Falcons May Have Found More Than A Camp Arm In Jack Strand
Jack Strands path to Atlanta has already been a little different from the usual camp-arm story. He stayed put at Minnesota State University Moorhead even when bigger programs came calling, and the decision paid off with a strong college run that included honorable mention All-American recognition and a 2025 season in which he threw for more than 3,500 yards and 42 touchdowns. After going undrafted, he landed with the Falcons as a free agent and has given the staff a chance to take a closer look.
What makes Strand worth tracking now is that he has not looked out of place when the opportunity arrived. His recent showing against the Indianapolis Colts turned some heads and added to the sense that Atlanta may have brought in more than just a body for training camp. For a team always sorting through the back end of its quarterback room, Strands background and early flashes make him a name worth watching as the summer unfolds. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons Have An Undrafted QB Story Fans Did Not See Coming
Jack Strand arrived in Atlanta with the kind of resume that usually makes a rookie quarterback an afterthought, an undrafted free agent from Division II Minnesota State-Moorhead trying to find his footing in a crowded NFL quarterback room. Instead, he has become one of the more interesting names in the Falcons preseason work, turning in a strong showing against the Colts and keeping himself in the conversation for a roster spot.
For a team sorting out its depth chart, Strands path has made him worth watching. He was a three-time Harlon Hill Trophy nominee in college and finished 10th all-time in Division II career passing yards, credentials that helped him stand out long before he got to Atlanta. Now the question is whether that production and his early preseason momentum can carry him into the kind of third-string role that would keep his unlikely rise going. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons CB3 Battle Is Suddenly Leaning Toward An Unexpected Veteran
Training camp has given the Falcons an early surprise in the nickel cornerback race, where Darnay Holmes has emerged as the current frontrunner for the CB3 job. He has been working with the first-team defense and taking advantage of a situation shaped in part by injuries to Avieon Terrell and Billy Bowman Jr., which has opened the door for him to get a longer look.
Holmes chance, though, comes with a familiar camp caveat. The Falcons still have bodies to work back into the mix, and once that happens, the competition at nickel could look very different than it does right now. For a player trying to secure a role, the key question is how much of this first-team run can be turned into something lasting. [Read more 🡒]