ATLANTA — The Atlanta Falcons have named Tua Tagovailoa their starting quarterback for their Week one matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The decision comes after a training camp competition that extended past initial roster cutdowns.
Tagovailoa and the starting offense will take the field Sunday when the Falcons open their regular season against the Steelers.
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Tagovailoa, who signed with the Falcons this offseason, worked with the first-team offense for most of training camp and started the team’s first and final preseason games.
Tagovailoa completed 10 of 13 pass attempts for 117 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions, posting a passer rating of 103.7.
Falcons offensive coordinator Tommy Rees praised the veteran quarterback’s vision and field awareness during camp.
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“I think the biggest thing that you can tell is he’s a veteran,” Rees said. “He can see the field really well and if the defense makes a mistake, he can see that and exploit it.”
“You know that certain players, once they have the ball in their hands, a lot of the time the first guy they’re going to make miss,” Tagovailoa said during training camp. “And we’ll see how it goes from there. But those kind of [run-after-catch] guys, that’s the guys you want to be able to get the ball to any which way you can.”
The announcement that Tagovailoa will be the starting quarterback for the opener follows Atlanta’s decision to carry four quarterbacks on its initial 53-man roster, making the Falcons one of just four NFL teams to do so alongside their Week one opponent, Pittsburgh.
Falcons General Manager Ian Cunningham said Tagovailoa, Michael Penix Jr., Cooper Rush and Jack Strand were “four guys who went out there and earned it.”
“These guys have been productive during the preseason,” Cunningham said. “So, if you let a guy like Cooper go, there’s a potential he may be able to get an opportunity to go to another team. If you let a guy like Strand go, he’s subject to waivers. The way he played, like we talk about all the time: draft, retain, develop. In his case, he was undrafted, but there’s a chance that somebody could’ve claimed him. It’s about living in the now but also living in the future with Jack. So, that kind of went into the quarterback process.”
Falcons Head Coach Kevin Stefanski said Tagovailoa brings a proven track record of overcoming challenges to his new team.
“You want to prove people wrong. You have a chip on your shoulder,” Stefanski said. “I think where I’m coming into this, where Tua’s coming into this is, listen, this is not exactly how you thought it would go, but guess what, that’s the reality and how are we gonna respond? I think that’s what he’s made of. You look at his career, you look back at his college career, he’s responded.”
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