Penix Out, Tua Doubtful for Week 2 as Falcons' QB Room Thins Out
Michael Penix Jr. is ruled out with a knee issue and Tua Tagovailoa is doubtful with an oblique, leaving Atlanta scrambling under center in Week 2.
Doubtful with an oblique — don't gamble on a start you can't trust.
- Penix out after reconstructive knee surgery last season
- Tua doubtful with oblique injury from practice
- Penix: 122 PPR pts in 9 games (2025)
- Tua: 161 PPR pts in 14 games (2025)
- Falcons travel to Green Bay on Thursday in Week 3
Atlanta's quarterback situation just got messy heading into Week 2. The Falcons ruled out Michael Penix Jr. (knee) and listed Tua Tagovailoa as doubtful with an oblique injury, meaning both of the names fantasy managers care about are in real jeopardy of not seeing the field. Penix is still recovering from the reconstructive knee surgery that cut his 2025 campaign short at nine games.
The numbers explain why this matters. Penix posted 122 PPR points across nine games last season (2025), with 1,982 passing yards, nine touchdowns and three picks — that's his profile line, #34 at the position in our rankings. Tua, meanwhile, put up 161 PPR points over 14 games in 2025 (2,660 yards, 20 TDs, 15 INTs), which slots him at #26 among QBs in our model. Neither is a locked-in QB1, but with both banged up, the Falcons' passing game is a question mark.
Tua's oblique showed up during practice last week, and an oblique on a quarterback is the kind of injury that lingers. Penix, for what it's worth, was a full participant in practice all week, though the team wouldn't commit to a Week 3 timeline for him. Atlanta plays Thursday night in Green Bay next week, and that short turnaround doesn't do a recovering quarterback any favors.
The Fantasy Fallout
If you rostered Tua as a streaming option or bye-week fill-in, you need a backup plan now — doubtful means you're realistically looking at him missing. Don't leave a doubtful QB in your lineup and hope. Penix isn't a factor this week either, so if you were stashing him, this is just more waiting.
Tua's form was already trending the wrong way, sitting two fantasy points below his season average over his last five games in 2025. Add an oblique to that, and there's no reason to force him into your Week 2 lineup. Sit Tua, keep Penix on the bench-stash pile if you have the room, and grab a healthy streamer with a real matchup. Revisit both once Atlanta clears up the Thursday-night plan.
