Less than two weeks after inking a one-year deal to begin the new Falcons era in his career, former Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa held a teleconference with local media Tuesday afternoon.
Tagovailoa, sporting a gray T-shirt and white ball cap, went through the pains and shortcomings of his past, his expectations for 2026 and the quarterback battle that awaits him in Flowery Branch.
Here are four takeaways from Tagovailoa’s introduction.
Eager to compete
On March 13, the day the Falcons formally announced they signed Tagovailoa, first-year GM Ian Cunningham said the 28-year-old signal-caller “knows he’s coming in to compete” with Michael Penix Jr. to be the team’s starting quarterback.
Tagovailoa, whom the Dolphins released March 9, approached free agency under the assumption he’d have to compete regardless of where he signed. He’s no stranger to competition — he had it in college, and he never let the edge slip while he was the unquestioned starter in Miami.
Competition, Tagovailoa said, comes with the territory in the NFL. He won’t shy away from it with Penix and the Falcons.
“I would say competition is just going to be there and competition enhances the play of everyone that you’re surrounded with,” Tagovailoa said.
Over six years with the Dolphins, Tagovailoa started 76 games and threw for 18,166 yards to go along with 120 touchdowns and 59 interceptions. Now back in a quarterback competition, he said his mindset won’t change this summer.
“You either love competition — you’re either a competitor or you’re not,” Tagovailoa said. “You just don’t go from being a competitor to, ‘Let me just relax a little bit.’ I just don’t think that’s how it works. You’re either a competitor or you’re not. And so, I embrace the competition.
“I’m excited to work alongside with Mike and I’m excited to work with the team, with the guys. I think it’s going to be fun this year.”
Relishing ‘fresh start’
Tagovailoa has reached great heights in the NFL. He finished ninth in MVP voting in 2022 and led the league in passing in ’23, compiling 4,624 yards en route to his first Pro Bowl nod. The following summer, he inked a four-year, $212.4 million deal that made him one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the league. In 2024, he topped the NFL with a 72.9% completion rate.
Last year featured an abundance of humbling lows, with 15 interceptions in 14 starts and he was benched for seventh-round rookie Quinn Ewers to close the season.
“If you’re looking at last year, my play wasn’t up to the standard of the way I’ve been playing football the past three years since the new contract,” he said. “So, just got to play better football. That’s what that really means. There’s no other way to sugarcoat that or go around that.”
After the season, Tagovailoa reached out to a couple of veteran quarterbacks, and they discussed shared experiences, about the lack of fun they felt, about picking themselves up and moving forward. He didn’t share specifics, but he’s grown from leaning on battle-tested mentors.
“I think if you don’t have mentors and people that have gone through situations like that, that you can share and learn from, I think it makes it that much more difficult to grow from it as well,” Tagovailoa said. “I’ve definitely learned a lot, not just on the field, but also off the field in my preparation and in things of that nature.
“But I think it’s all for the good. It’s all to help you grow as a person, be the best version of yourself, and I think that’s what I got out of that.”
Embracing ‘veteran role’ with Penix
When he was a rookie in 2020, Tagovailoa cherished the opportunity to learn under veteran QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, who played 17 years in the NFL. He spent the next four seasons growing, developing, ascending — and, at last, viewing himself as a veteran in 2025.
Tagovailoa was the Dolphins’ oldest quarterback, holding seniority over Ewers and Zach Wilson. Between the lessons he learned from Fitzpatrick’s tutelage and his own experience last year, Tagovailoa plans to aid Penix, 25, in any way possible.
“I think whatever I can do to help Mike’s game will help me, because if I’m helping getting him better, it’s helping me get better,” Tagovailoa said. “Vice versa within helping the team get better. So, I’m not looking at it as just, ‘OK, you do your thing. I’m a competitor. I’m going to compete over here.’ Everyone has to pull their own weight with this.”
Tagovailoa said his mind is fixed on doing what’s best for the Falcons as a collective, not just himself as an individual.
“I’m going to do all that I can to help him in whatever he needs with his game,” he said. “And by doing that, I hope it enhances his game to enhance mine and vice versa. And we keep growing and battling together in that sense.”
Falcons’ weapons
Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees have spoken with Tagovailoa about the nuances of the offense and how it compares to the Dolphins’ system.
The Falcons won’t motion their receivers like the Dolphins, who boasted perhaps the NFL’s fastest receivers last season. But Tagovailoa likes the intentionality within the Falcons’ scheme. There’s a reason behind everything they do, he said.
And there’s no shortage of weapons, either.
“You got a good line,” Tagovailoa said. “You got Kyle Pitts. You got Bijan Robinson. You got Drake London.”
Tagovailoa compared Robinson to Dolphins running back De’Von Achane, who was selected to his first Pro Bowl in 2025. He also knows the father of London’s fiancee through a chance encounter at Baker’s Bay in the Bahamas.
The Falcons’ offense trudged through a 34-10 loss to Tagovailoa and the Dolphins last season, but he believes he’s entering an offense with plenty of pieces to succeed.
“I think the biggest thing you see with the group of guys we have,” Tagovailoa said, “you got (yards after catch) in Kyle Pitts. You can throw it in the vicinity of Drake. Drake’s going to catch it. You got a back like Bijan. … Then you got the play-action game to work off of that to get these guys the ball.
“All in all, I think it can be really dangerous.”
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