Tagovailoa (back) could cede the Week 1 starting role to Cooper Rush, who took all of the first-team reps with the offense Thursday after Tagovailoa exited early due to a back injury, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports.
Tagovailoa was named Atlanta's starter for Sunday's regular-season opener earlier in the week, but he went down grabbing his back in individual drills Thursday and subsequently sat out the remainder of practice. The Falcons are now preparing to head into Week 1 with the third-stringer Rush under center, as Tua is in danger of joining Michael Penix (knee) on the sidelines. If Tagovailoa is ruled out, Jack Strand would serve as Rush's backup Sunday.