Kevin Stefanski went through a kind of offseason quarterback competition last year with the Browns.
Now head coach of the Falcons, Stefanski is preparing to have another one in 2026 — although this one will take a different shape.
With Michael Penix Jr. still recovering from a torn ACL, Tua Tagovailoa will take the bulk of the offseason reps at quarterback. But once Penix is healthy, the Falcons are expecting QB1 to be up for grabs.
“It will be a competition but I can’t tell you exactly what it will look like until Michael gets healthy,” Stefanski said at the annual league meeting on Monday, via Tori McElhaney of the team’s website. “But the quarterback position — like all of our other positions — will be a competition, yes.”
Stefanski also noted that Penix’s top goal for now is to focus on his rehab and get healthy.
“He’s in the building all the time and I’m excited for what that looks like when he’s healthy,” Stefanski said. “But we’re not going to rush him, and he’s not going to rush himself.
“There are obviously timelines when it comes to injuries, but we are all different. So, we want to see how he looks in a week, how he looks in a month,” Stefanski added, saying it wouldn’t be fair to say if he thinks Penix will be ready for the start of the season.
But either way, there will be competition.
“I think our plan was to always bring in competition across our roster,” Stefanski said. “It’s something Ian believes in, I believe in, Matt believes in. That only makes all of us better at every position.”
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