FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons named Tua Tagovailoa the starter for the team's Week 1 showdown against the Steelers up in Pittsburgh this coming weekend.

In his first press conference of the week, head coach Kevin Stefanski detailed not just the reasoning behind the decision, but also the ripple effects off of it. The main piece of news being that Cooper Rush will act as Tagovailoa's backup against the Steelers and Michael Penix Jr. will be inactive.

Stefanski said the evaluation of the quarterbacks was "all-encompassing" and that Tagovailoa's work since April was taken into account for this decision.

"I know preseason games get a lot of attention, and they should," Stefanski said. "But I've gotten to see (Tagovailoa) work really, really hard throughout this entire process of learning a new system, learning his teammates.

"So much of quarterback play comes down to knowing your teammates. You've got to know how this receiver comes out of this break versus that receiver."

Overall, Stefanski said Tagovailoa has "put himself in a position to go be the best version of himself."

As for Penix and his inactive status, Stefanski noted "everyone is on the same page" when it comes to his return-to-play plan.

Penix was cleared just recently on Aug. 22 to participate in full-team, 11-on-11 work in practice. Stefanski said he is very proud of Penix's progress, but discussed there is a difference between being cleared medically to play versus actually being ready.

"You can get cleared for 11-on-11 or you get cleared for a game, but then you have to be able to do your job," Stefanski explained. "I can think of offensive tackles over the years that sure, they're cleared to play, but are you able to function at the level that you need to function at?"

The Falcons are very cognizant of this distinction.

"This will continue to be something that we work on together with Mike," Stefanski said about Penix's status. "We're all on the same page— myself, our medical staff, Mike, everyone — and everybody feels good about where Mike is heading. He'll continue just to work like crazy, and that's his focus."

Stefanski was asked about the Penix's prognosis moving forward, along with how the Falcons are setting up to handle the starting quarterback decisions in the weeks to come. Stefanski declined to go into much detail in response, stating he wishes not to look too far beyond Week 1 at this point. He said he would not want to speculate about future decisions.

For now, the Falcons' quarterback plan is clear. Tagovailoa will start in Pittsburgh, Rush will back him up and Penix will remain inactive. What happens after Week 1, though, remains unwritten, and Stefanski intends to keep it that way for now.