Tua Tagovailoa was absent from the open portion of Falcons practice on Friday, and the team's Week 1 quarterback situation is now genuinely up in the air. According to Yahoo Sports, Tagovailoa suffered an oblique injury in practice, putting his availability against the Steelers on Sunday in question. Pro Football Talk also reported his absence Friday and suggested Cooper Rush as a potential Week 1 starter.
Let's be precise about what we know and what we don't. The absence itself is confirmed by both outlets. The oblique injury is reported. The Rush start remains a rumor, not a done deal. There has been no official designation from the team, no game-status tag, no "questionable" or "doubtful" label. So treat Sunday like a coin flip that hasn't landed yet, and treat every fantasy lineup decision around this game as a last-minute call.
Here's my read, and I'll commit to it: if Tua can't go, Cooper Rush starting is a downgrade the Falcons can survive but not one they can win pretty with. Rush is a 9th-year journeyman who joined this roster after, in his own words, "a few workouts in spring" that came "out of the blue." That's not a quarterback who was built to be the Week 1 plan. He's the emergency valve. And emergency valves are exactly why you don't want your starter's first real week of the season to be a health scratch.
But let's not pretend Rush is a warm body. His own comments from Wednesday tell you he's been preparing like a starter, not a bystander. "All those reps matter, it's a big advantage for me especially," Rush said. "The game prep doesn't change mentally. I think that's been an advantage of mine." And then the line that matters most for this offense: "Every throw you throw to Drake, every throw you throw to Kyle, it matters."
That's the entire fantasy equation in one sentence. Drake London. Kyle Pitts Sr. If Rush is under center, those two are the ones whose target volume gets tested, for better or worse.
The Fantasy Fallout, Position by Position
Start with the quarterbacks. Tua Tagovailoa posted a 260-for-384 line in 2025 with the Dolphins for 2,660 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions across 14 games. That's a middling real-life season and a low-end QB2 fantasy season, and it came with a turnover problem that caps his ceiling in any format. If he plays Sunday, he's a streamer at best against a Steelers defense that, per new offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, "does as good of a job as anyone of challenging the offense." If Tua sits, Rush becomes a desperation Superflex dart, not a starter in any normal league. I'm not rostering either one in a standard 12-team league this week.
Now the pass catchers, and this is where the real money gets made or lost.
Drake London is the name to watch. In 2025 he posted 68 catches for 919 yards and 7 touchdowns in 12 games. That's a genuine WR2 fantasy profile when healthy, and the question Sunday is whether a backup quarterback can keep his target share intact. My answer: the volume mostly stays, the efficiency dips. Rush knows where he wants to go with the football. He said so. "Every throw you throw to Drake, every throw you throw to Kyle, it matters." A veteran backup's survival instinct is to feed his best players and avoid the turnover. London is still a start for me in every format. I'd just temper the touchdown expectation.
Kyle Pitts Sr. is the more interesting DFS lever. Pitts put up 88 catches for 928 yards and 5 touchdowns across 17 games in 2025. That's a massive target line for a tight end. With a backup quarterback, checkdowns and quick throws to the tight end are the friendliest throws in the playbook, and Tua himself described the approach as "preparation... knowing where your checkdowns are, your outlets." A checkdown-heavy game plan against Pittsburgh's pass rush is a plus for Pitts, not a minus. He's my favorite contrarian DFS play if Tua is out. Low ownership on a Thursday-to-Sunday slate, high floor from volume.
Bijan Robinson is the one player whose value I'd argue goes up, not down, if Rush starts. In 2025, Bijan carried 287 times for 1,478 yards and 7 touchdowns while adding 79 catches for 820 receiving yards. That's an every-down workload. A backup quarterback means more dump-offs, more screens, more "get it to your best player and let him work" football. Tua's own description of the back as a "security valve" tells you how this staff already views that role. Bijan is a locked-in RB1 regardless of who's under center, and I'd bump his receiving projection up a notch if Tua sits.
The Steelers' defense is the counterweight. Rees called the group a real challenge for the offense, and Pittsburgh's front seven is the reason. Tua noted that the Steelers' front seven "really gets those guys going." A backup quarterback behind a line facing that pressure is a recipe for sacks and short fields. That cuts against every Falcons skill player's ceiling Sunday. It's the single biggest reason I'm not chasing Falcons in DFS this week beyond Pitts and Bijan.
The Bigger Picture in Atlanta
This is a first-year-together operation. Kevin Stefanski is the head coach, Tommy Rees runs the offense, and Rush said the group's newness actually helps: "I think everyone being the first year together definitely helps it too." Tua described the situation as "refreshing" and said he feels "the total opposite" of the doubts around him. But a Week 1 oblique issue for the quarterback you're building the season around is the kind of thing that turns a "refreshing" September into a scrambled one fast.
And the noise is already here. A former NFL linebacker criticized Tua over this injury, questioning his durability ahead of Week 1, per Pro Football Network. NFL analyst Michael Holley went further and questioned Matt Ryan and the Falcons' front office over how the quarterback situation got this messy before the season even started. That's the temperature around this team right now, and a missed Week 1 start will only raise it.
The Falcons have plenty of runway. It's Week 1. An oblique strain is not a season-ender, and the depth chart behind Tua is functional. If Tua is the long-term answer this organization committed to, one September scratch doesn't change that calculus. But the short-term reality is real: Atlanta's playoff hopes in a crowded NFC rest on getting a clean start, and a Week 1 loss to Pittsburgh with a backup quarterback would put this team behind the eight-ball before the leaves turn.
Where I Land
If Tua plays: fire up London and Bijan as usual, and treat Pitts as a solid TE1 with a slight touchdown cap. Start your Falcons, don't overthink it.
If Tua sits: keep London and Bijan in your lineups, and treat Pitts as a sneaky value in DFS tournaments because the checkdown volume should hold even if the deep shots disappear. Fade the Atlanta passing game in cash, where Rush's turnover risk is too much exposure for a floor you don't need.
And for the real-football verdict: the Falcons could survive Sunday without Tua, but they won't be happy about the way they'd have to do it. Cooper Rush is a competent bridge, not a bridge you want to cross in Week 1 against a defense that gets after the quarterback. The smart bet is that Tua's absence, if it holds, costs Atlanta a game it should win, and the front office needs him back on the field in a hurry to quiet a fan base that's already asking hard questions. That's the pressure of being the quarterback this team bet on. One oblique strain shouldn't be the story of Week 1. In Atlanta right now, it might be.
-- Marco Wexler
