Tua Tagovailoa Expresses Frustration After Difficult Falcons Preseason Debut

Tua Tagovailoa acknowledged his performance in his first preseason outing with the Atlanta Falcons was "not up to standard" following a 27-7 home loss to the Denver Broncos on Friday night.

Tagovailoa, who joined the Falcons this offseason after his tenure with the Miami Dolphins concluded, completed 3 of 5 passes for 22 yards across two drives that both ended in punts. He expressed disappointment with the team's offensive showing, stating it did not reflect the work put in during training camp.

"It starts with me, I got to be better with that," Tagovailoa said after the game. He lamented a fumbled snap on the second play of the game that contributed to a difficult situation and a subsequent punt. Atlanta's second offensive series also stalled, with completions for a first down negated by incompletions and a penalty.

"Both frustrated and disappointed with the way things happened tonight, as we went out there," Tagovailoa added.

Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski offered a brief assessment of Tagovailoa's limited snaps, noting that the performance "could have been better" and specifically mentioning the fumbled snap as an issue. Stefanski, known for his offensive background, is tasked with developing either Tagovailoa or Michael Penix Jr. into a starting quarterback for Atlanta.

Penix is currently sidelined while recovering from a torn ACL suffered last November, providing Tagovailoa an opportunity to establish himself as the starter. Tagovailoa, who is 28, previously showed promise with the Dolphins but faced challenges with concussions and a decline in production, leading to his departure from Miami. Despite posting career highs in passing yards and touchdowns in 2023, he has thrown for under 3,000 yards in the last two seasons and a career-high 15 interceptions last year.

Tagovailoa hopes to use the team's remaining two preseason games to improve. "With this being preseason, that gives you no excuse to go out there and put a performance like that out there on tape," he said. "Not satisfied, not happy at all whatsoever. We'll learn from this."