The highly anticipated Atlanta Falcons quarterback battle between Michael Penix Jr. and Tua Tagovailoa won’t have a quick resolution, and it could continue deep into the preseason as the coaching staff presses the pause button during OTAs.
Falcons quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt told reporters that the team does not intend to start the quarterback battle until Penix is healthy enough to practice like Tagovailoa, per Marc Raimondi of ESPN. Penix has not been able to participate in 11-on-11 drills this spring as he recovers from a torn ACL sustained last season.
“It’s tough to have a competition when both guys aren’t competing at the same level right now,” Van Pelt said. “So, it’s hard and it’ll come. It’ll happen at some point.
“Mike’s done a great job of getting himself to where he is right now. Really impressive to take 7-on-7 reps and go out and compete. That’s been great. But really, there’s no competition until we can actually evaluate him equally.”
Penix and Tagovailoa are splitting reps as equally as possible for 7-on-7 drills, though the former Miami Dolphins quarterback tends to receive the most reps while Penix recovers.
Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski wouldn’t confirm Penix could see time on the field during preseason games this summer. The Falcons believe Penix isn’t falling behind in his recovery, but the team isn’t worried about the quarterback competition starting in training camp if he cannot participate in mandatory minicamp next week.
“He’s hitting every milestone that he’s supposed to hit,” Stefanski said. “We’re in constant communication with our medical team and Mike, and I think he’s doing everything he can do and certainly when he may want to do more, we have to hold him back from certain things potentially.
“But not going to put any time frames out there just yet, just going to focus on what’s in front of us.”
It won’t be ideal for the eventual winner of the starting job to wait until training camp to start the competition. That means either Penix or Tagovailoa will lose reps with the first team during those pivotal summer practices while the coaching staff evaluates the two quarterbacks.
On Monday, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray expressed his frustration in splitting reps with J.J. McCarthy during OTAs, noting that it makes it harder for him to learn the offense.
For the Falcons, a similar set-up could last through a significant portion of training camp.