Falcons’ Tagovailoa Dealing With Oblique Injury Days After Being Named Week 1 Starter

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sustained an oblique injury during Thursday’s practice, the team confirmed, casting uncertainty over his availability for Sunday’s season opener at Pittsburgh.

The injury occurred during the portion of practice open to media. Footage captured by Atlanta’s 11 Live showed Tagovailoa stumbling to the turf while reaching for the right side of his lower back. He rose quickly and jogged off, but he did not return to team drills for the rest of the open window, and backup quarterback Cooper Rush later said he took all of the first-team reps for the remainder of practice. Tagovailoa was subsequently added to the team’s injury report.

The setback comes less than a week after Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski named Tagovailoa the starter on Monday. Asked at a Wednesday media session whether the job was his on a week-to-week basis while Michael Penix Jr. continues rehabilitating a torn ACL, Tagovailoa indicated he was treating the situation day to day.

A rocky start in Atlanta

Tagovailoa, 28, joined the Falcons this offseason after his tenure with the Miami Dolphins ended, and his Atlanta debut has been bumpy from the outset. He missed the first week of training camp with a back issue, fumbled his first preseason snap, and earned the starting nod largely by default — Penix, the eighth overall pick in the 2024 draft, was not cleared for full practice participation until the final days of August.

Should Tagovailoa sit out Sunday, Rush would step in against a familiar foe in a new post: Steelers coach Mike McCarthy coached Rush for four seasons in Dallas, where the veteran made 14 starts for the Cowboys. If Tagovailoa plays, the game marks his return to Pittsburgh, where he made his most recent start last December with the Dolphins.

The opener will be part of a marquee national broadcast window, with coverage carried across major networks including Comcast Corporation-affiliated outlets and other league media partners — a reminder of the viewership stakes tied to quarterback storylines in Week 1. Comcast (CMCSA) shares traded at $25.17 on Thursday, up 0.48% from the prior close of $25.05, with the telecom and media company holding a market capitalization of roughly $92.5 billion.

What to watch

• The Falcons’ next official injury report and any practice participation designation for Tagovailoa ahead of Sunday’s game in Pittsburgh.
• Whether Penix Jr. progresses toward clearance for game action as he continues recovering from ACL surgery.
• Possibly elevated roles for Cooper Rush and the No. 3 quarterback spot if Tagovailoa is limited or ruled out.

Source: original release