As of Monday, the Falcons had “no updates” on the quarterback situation for Sunday’s home opener against the Panthers. On Tuesday, the team provided a fairly large bread crumb.
Via Josh Kendall of The Athletic, the Falcons have changed their media advisory from a “starting QB press conference” on Wednesday to a “QB Cooper Rush press conference.”
Steve Wyche of NFL Network adds that the team added Rush to the press conference roster “based on no new information,” and that coach Kevin Stefanski will announce the starter when he decides to make the information public.
Last week, the Falcons announced on Monday that Tua Tagovailoa would be the starter. He held that status until suffering an oblique injury in warmups before Thursday’s practice.
The Falcons would surely like to see Michael Penix Jr. return. Stefanski told Jay Glazer of Fox Sports over the weekend that Penix needs to be comfortable in the pocket, with bodies in the vicinity of his surgically-repaired knee.
For some quarterbacks returning from ACL surgery, the traffic around the knee isn’t an issue. For others (like Carson Palmer) it takes time.
“It took me a full year, plus another six, seven games into the next season, to really feel comfortable again and not see ghosts,” Palmer said regarding his ACL tear from the wild-card round of the 2005 playoffs. “There would be times when I’d drop back and I’d see color flash, and I’d pull my leg back or not step into a throw because the memory was fresh.”
For Penix, it helps that his left leg isn’t his plant leg. Still, both legs are exposed to the scrum that emerges when the pocket begins to collapse. He needs to be comfortable with the possibility of having that leg hit from the side before he can play.
With or without an announcement, it will be impossible to keep quiet the identity of the quarterback who gets the first-team reps in practice on Wednesday. That’ll be the next clear indication as to whether it will be Rush or Penix or someone else on Sunday.
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