FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — For the first time since he became the Falcons offensive coordinator, Tommy Rees has a fully healthy quarterback room.

OK, yes, dramatic. But when you think about where the team started this training camp — with only one rostered quarterback able to participate in 11-on-11 until the team signed Cooper Rush after a whirlwind 16 hours — is it really that dramatic?

We digress.

Tuesday saw Rees take to the podium for the first time since camp began to discuss (mainly) the evolution of the quarterback room, his evaluation of Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. and, overall, his feelings about where the state of the quarterback position goes. In this edition of Camp Chatter, we're taking a look back at some of the things he said.

What Rees takes into account through his evaluation of the quarterbacks: "I think you look at the whole body of work, you certainly know where guys have been in their career. You know what they have done in real games, on a big stage. So, certainly, there are things you can draw back to, talk through and know that guys have handled things in the past."

"We're really trying to evaluate how they've handled (a new offensive install), what we have asked them to do and I have been pleased with the progression."

On Michael Penix Jr.'s return to full-team work: "First of all, it was great to have him out there, just for the human, as hard as he's worked to get back. Dealing with a knee injury and coming back again — there's a lot of joy, personally, for him to be out there on the field. I think his teammates had a lot of joy for him."

"The thing with Mike is he's been doing a lot, just hasn't done the full-speed work yet, so getting him back caught up to full-speed play. Mentally, he's sharp. He's been in walk throughs, he's been doing 7-on-7s, so continuing to get those full-team reps will be very valuable."

What Rees has seen from Tua Tagovailoa to this point: "I think he has taken a lot of ownership in the operation side of the offense. We have asked him to do some things that he maybe hasn't had to do in his career, but he's taken a lot of ownership of that and he's really taken the work and he's stressed that among himself to execute at a high level.

"... One thing about him, when things are clean he is as accurate as they get. So, it's our job to stress the other 10 guys around him to play with great detail, play with great understanding so that things are clean and we're able to execute at a high level."

How he weighs his evaluation knowing Penix has only just been cleared for 11-on-11 work: "It's certainly a different scale. You have live periods. You have situational football. You have things with a pass rush. So, you have to evaluate them on a bit of a slope because one guys in walk through and one guys in 7-on-7 and mentally you're trying to make sure the operation is correct and that his eyes are in the right place and that he is picking everything up and to Mike's credit, we talk about maximizing mental reps, maximizing reps when you're not in there, we really feel like he's done that. With Tua, there's more hard evidence on the field. But its our job as coaches to sift through those processes to make sure that we get a fair evaluation of both guys."

The importance of an even split between the two throughout camp, even with Penix's limitations: "We were very strategic in how we approached it. Obviously, there was an early part there where Tua was not available for an early stretch but Kev did a great job of putting together a plan and Coach Van Pelt did a great job of making sure the rotation made sense and that we got a full body of work, or as much as we were allowed to do or could do with both guys. Glad both ways, and now its catching up to speed for Mike and seeing it progress for Tua."

When it comes time to name a starter for Week 1: "We have a very good dialogue between all of us (coaches), so I am not real concerned with voices not being heard or not. There's been an open dialogue and a lot of mutual respect in terms of who we work with. Those conversations will take place and we will all say our part and we will move forward together with one decision."