FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons will start training camp without quarterback Tua Tagovailoa fully participating in practice.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski announced during his Wednesday morning press conference that Tagovailoa is dealing with an injury that will keep him from practicing.
"He will be out there sooner rather than later," Stefanski said.
ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Tagovailoa is dealing with a "tight back."
Tagovailoa joined the Falcons this offseason, signing with the team in March. This was a move intended not only to insulate the quarterback position around a rehabbing Michael Penix Jr., but also to insert competition into the room.
"For Tua coming in here, he knows he's coming in here to compete, like Michael knows he is coming in to compete, everybody quite frankly, not just those two at the quarterback position," Falcons general manager Ian Cunningham said in March. "There are no starters right now."
Still, there was much to learn about Tagovailoa, Penix and the competition at hand for the coveted starting spot. However, because of Penix's pending health status, coaches constantly weighed Penix's limitations throughout the offseason training period along with an ongoing competition.
That balance was evident during the team's voluntary offseason practices and mandatory minicamp, when the rotation between Penix and Tagovailoa constantly shifted.
"I think Tommy Rees does a great job of being intentional about how we want this to operate," Stefanski said of his offensive coordinator during the spring. "One guy will be up first for one period and then switch for the next period, and rotate every single day and almost every single drill, because the truth is that we are trying to get the best version of all of our players, so we want to mix-and-match guys.
"... We are really focused on each quarterback getting the reps that they need for that given day. So they can, No. 1, learn and command our system, but also add to the part of evaluation."
That evaluation, however, will look a little different to start training camp, as Tagovailoa won't be back at practice for a little bit. Stefanski expects him back "soon," but did not provide a timeline beyond that.
With the Falcons having parted ways with veteran quarterback Trevor Siemian that very morning, that left rookie UDFA Jack Strand as the main quarterback available to the Falcons during the 11-on-11 portions of practice for the time being.
The Falcons did, though, sign quarterback Cooper Rush prior to the start of Wednesday's practice in order to add more depth to the room.
Stefanski expressed optimism that this is a temporary state of being for the Falcons, but it does mean that the quarterback position is one to monitor as training camp kicks off.
