Falcons' Tagovailoa Ruled Out vs. Steelers; Rush to Start — SkimNews
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- Atlanta Falcons ruled Tua Tagovailoa out for Sunday's Week 1 opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers with an oblique injury, head coach Kevin Stefanski announced Friday from Flowery Branch.
- Cooper Rush will start at quarterback after taking all first-team offense reps Thursday and all passing drills during Friday's media viewing period; Stefanski labeled Tagovailoa week-to-week after he grabbed at his side and sat on the grass during Thursday practice.
- Michael Penix Jr., who lost the starting competition to Tagovailoa earlier this week, will be listed inactive Sunday after telling the team he doesn't feel ready for live game action as he continues recovering from November left ACL surgery; he was fully cleared for practice two weeks ago.
- Rush, 32, was signed by the Falcons on the eve of training camp when Tagovailoa arrived with a tight back — an injury Stefanski said is unrelated to the current oblique issue.
- Rush has 16 career starts and a 9-7 record when starting, but struggled in four games (two starts) with Baltimore last season; in 2025 he completed 65.4% of passes for 303 yards with zero touchdowns and four interceptions.
Why it matters: The Falcons named their Week 1 starter four days ago and have now lost him indefinitely, thrusting a 32-year-old career backup — whose 2025 line included zero touchdowns and four interceptions — into the season opener against Pittsburgh with no experienced fallback behind him.
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