The Falcons closed their preseason on Friday night with a 17-12 win over the Miami Dolphins, and Kevin Stefanski left the game talking as much about roster decisions as he did about the quarterback play he saw.
Atlanta built its cushion early, taking a 17-6 lead into halftime before finishing off the five-point victory. Tua Tagovailoa got the start for the Falcons and was sharp in a limited sample, completing 7 of 8 passes for 95 yards. His only miss came on a red-zone throwaway on the opening drive, which ended with a Brian Robinson Jr. rushing touchdown.
Stefanski has spent the summer stressing that the quarterback job has been open since he arrived in January, but the competition has hardly had a clean runway. Tagovailoa missed the first week of camp because of a back ailment, and Michael Penix Jr. only got cleared for 11v11 team drills last week.
After the game, Stefanski gave Tagovailoa a positive but measured review.
"I thought Tua did a nice job operating," Stefanski said after the game. "Obviously moved the football there for a couple drives. Plenty to clean up; an avoidable center/quarterback exchange, which we have to clean that up, and we will.
He also pointed to the two preseason fumbles and said the issue came down to different snaps and different alignments.
"One was under center, and one was gun, different center." Stefanski said of Tagovailoa's two preseason fumbles. "It's a concern any time the ball is on the ground, but we will work through that.
Tagovailoa’s first three drives didn’t feature much pushing the ball downfield. Instead, he leaned on short throws, and Stefanski wasn’t bothered by the conservative approach.
"Nah, that's football," Stefanski shrugged. "Sometimes they're gonna take away some of the options, and you take what's there. In a short sample (two drives and 8 passes), that's kinda what it looks like."
With the preseason now complete, the Falcons are moving toward Sunday’s 6 p.m. roster deadline, and the team is expected to carry three quarterbacks: Tagovailoa, Penix, and undrafted rookie Jack Strand.
Stefanski said the next few days will be about hard choices, and he didn’t pretend otherwise.
"Everybody knows that there's some tough decisions that have to be made over the next few days," Stefanski said. "And, that's the business of football.
It doesn't mean I like that part. I'd love to keep everybody.
But Roger Goodell won't allow it.
"So we'll work through it over the next few days. I hope that we're able to keep a bunch of guys on our 53, a bunch of guys on our practice squad.
If they're not on our practice squad, I'd love for them to be on somebody else's practice squad. So a lot of that, what they did tonight was great tape, a great resume for a bunch of guys.
The Falcons will have next weekend off before opening the season on September 13th against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
In Other News...
Falcons Roster Cuts Just Put More Bubble Players On Notice
The roster squeeze has already started in Flowery Branch, with the Falcons moving to trim down to the NFLs Sunday, 6 p.m. EST deadline. Atlanta has begun its cuts by parting with linebacker Channing Tindall, offensive lineman Brandon Walton and defensive tackle Eric Johnson, a first wave that also included wide receiver Keelan Marion, tight end Josh Simon, guard Jaeden Roberts, tackle Andrew Steuber, defensive tackle Devonnsha Maxwell, linebacker Daveren Rayner and safety Keidron Smith.
Those names are part of the annual hard part of camp, when depth-chart hopefuls and practice-squad candidates suddenly find themselves on the wrong side of the numbers. More moves are still expected before the deadline, which means the bubble has only gotten hotter for the remaining players trying to survive the final round of roster trimming. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons Just Made A QB Decision Fans Were Hoping For
The early roster picture in Atlanta got a little more interesting when undrafted rookie quarterback Jack Strand survived training camp and cracked the Falcons initial 53-man roster. For a player who arrived without draft-day fanfare, making the cut is a sign the team saw enough in him to keep him around as it sorts out the rest of its quarterback room.
Atlanta is expected to carry four quarterbacks, with Strand joining Cooper Rush, Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. The move also suggests the Falcons were unwilling to take the chance of exposing Strand to waivers, where another team could have claimed him, and that alone says plenty about how much value they see in keeping him close. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons Just Made A Cutdown-Day Move That Changes The D-Line
Amid the final waves of roster trimming, the Falcons added a notable piece to their defensive front by bringing in defensive tackle Gervon Dexter from the Bears in a deal that sent cornerback Clark Phillips II and a fifth-round pick to Chicago. It is the sort of late-summer move that can quietly reshape a depth chart, especially for a team trying to sort out its line while dealing with injuries and locking in the 53-man roster.
Dexter arrives with the kind of pedigree that makes this more than a stopgap swap. A former second-round pick, he gives Atlanta another body inside and a player the staff can plug into the pass rush and the broader defensive rotation as the season approaches. The Falcons have been looking for ways to stabilize that group, and this trade suggests they were willing to spend some value to make the front sturdier now. [Read more 🡒]