Tua frustrated after 27-7 Falcons preseason loss
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- Tua Tagovailoa expressed frustration after the Falcons' 27-7 preseason loss to the Denver Broncos on Friday night, calling the showing "definitely not up to standard, not even up to par" and saying it didn't reflect Atlanta's two weeks of training camp work.
- Tagovailoa played just two series (nine plays), finishing 3-of-5 for 22 yards with all four targets going to tight end Kyle Pitts Sr., producing a single first down.
- Tagovailoa fumbled the snap on his second play out of shotgun — though he recovered it — and said that miscue "kind of got [things] out of the rhythm" as the Broncos scored 24 unanswered points before Atlanta got on the board.
- Tagovailoa acknowledged he is competing with Michael Penix Jr. for the starting job but currently leads by default, since Penix has not been cleared to practice fully and cannot yet do 11-on-11 team sessions.
- Tagovailoa signed a one-year, $1.3 million contract with Atlanta after being released by the Miami Dolphins, joining a new Falcons regime that hired coach Kevin Stefanski, GM Ian Cunningham and president of football Matt Ryan in the offseason.
- Coach Kevin Stefanski said it was hard to fully grade Tagovailoa on such a small sample, noting the offense "didn't move the ball well enough" and pointing to a dropped snap among the things to clean up.
Why it matters: Tagovailoa holds Atlanta's QB1 spot only because Penix remains medically limited, meaning his hold on the job is procedural rather than earned — and a shaky debut keeps a question mark over whether the new Falcons regime will turn to Penix once cleared.
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