Falcons Tap Tua Tagovailoa As Week 1 Starter

Falcons name Tagovailoa as Week 1 starter over Penix
  

Tua Tagovailoa has been named the Atlanta Falcons' Week 1 starter over rookie Michael Penix Jr., who is still recovering from a torn ACL.

Falcons name Tua Tagovailoa starting QB over Michael Penix Jr. for week 1.

Former Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will start for the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1 ahead of Michael Penix Jr., the team announced.

Tagovailoa, 28, joined Atlanta on a one-year, $1.215 million deal in the offseason after Miami released him on March 11.

  

The Dolphins absorbed $99.2 million in dead money by cutting Tagovailoa less than a year after giving him a four-year, $212.4 million extension in July 2024.

Tagovailoa started 25 of 34 games across the last two seasons, throwing for 39 touchdowns and 22 interceptions, 15 of those picks coming in 2025. His 5,527 passing yards over that span ranked 21st in the NFL.

Since joining Atlanta, Tagovailoa played in two preseason games, going 10-of-18 for 117 yards with no TDs and two lost fumbles.

The Hawaii native becomes Atlanta’s sixth different Week 1 starter in six years, following Matt Ryan, Marcus Mariota, Desmond Ridder, Kirk Cousins, and Michael Penix Jr.

The ex-Alabama QB will get the nod over 2024 first-round pick Michael Penix Jr., who is still rehabbing a torn ACL from November 2025. Penix won’t play in Week 1, didn’t feature in the preseason, and only returned to 11-on-11 work in late August.

Tua Tagovailoa has been named starting quarterback for Week 1https://t.co/67barjCycW pic.twitter.com/l9QwpkUZOA

— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) September 7, 2026

Cooper Rush, formerly of the Cowboys, and rookie Jack Strand round out Atlanta’s quarterback room on the 53-man roster.

The Falcons went 8-9 and finished third in the NFC South last year. They open the 2026 season on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers.