[ad_1]
The Atlanta Falcons’ preseason-long search for a starting quarterback hit another potential snag Thursday when expected Week 1 starter Tua Tagovailoa was limited in practice with an oblique injury.
Veteran Cooper Rush, signed by the Falcons on the opening day of training camp, took all the snaps with the starters Thursday, he said, after Tagovailoa appeared to hurt himself throwing a pass during individual drills early in practice.
“I didn’t see what happened,” Rush said. “They just told me, ‘You’re up.’”
Tagovailoa, 28, grabbed his side after a throw and briefly sat on the ground before jogging away. He was not seen throwing another pass during the media viewing portion of the practice.
Why there’s more to the Falcons’ decision to start Tua Tagovailoa Week 1
Josh Kendall
Tagovailoa missed the first week of training camp with lower back tightness. That issue is one of the reasons the Falcons signed Rush, who has been in the NFL for eight seasons and made 16 career starts. He has a 9-7 career record as a starter but doesn’t know yet if he’ll be called on to make his 17th start Sunday when Atlanta takes on the Steelers in Pittsburgh, he said.
“It was a good day, good to get out there and get some real reps with (the starters),” he said. “We’ll see what happens. All those reps matter. It’s a big advantage for me. If you have to go in there, at least you got some reps.”
Rush, who spent seven years in Dallas and one in Baltimore before coming to Atlanta, is still living in a hotel, he said.
“I feel like camp was good, got caught up to speed pretty quickly,” he said. “I think it’s a testament to the staff and how well it’s coached that you can follow along and pick it up pretty quickly. That’s been really helpful.”
Tagovailoa was named the Falcons’ starter Monday and spoke this week about his gratitude for another opportunity in the NFL after a messy ending to his six-year career in Miami, where he made one Pro Bowl but was released after two subpar seasons.
“When something gets taken away from you, you start to think about all the things you could have changed,” he said. “Looking back at my time in Miami, there are things I could have done better. There’s a lot of things I think I could have done better, turning the ball over, could have played better, my decision-making … it just wasn’t good enough.”
Tagovailoa competed during training camp with Michael Penix Jr., who is in his third year in Atlanta but is coming off a season-ending ACL tear suffered in Week 11 last year. Penix wasn’t cleared for full practice work until Aug. 24, and he said Monday that he did not feel physically ready to compete in a game right now but was “real close.”
Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski, who said Monday that Penix would be inactive for the Pittsburgh game, did not speak to reporters after Thursday’s practice. Tagovailoa was not in the locker room for the open media period following practice.
If Rush starts, undrafted free agent rookie Jack Strand would be in line to be the No. 2 quarterback Sunday. Strand spent an extra 20 minutes throwing into a net after Thursday’s practice.
[ad_2]
Source link
