Kevin Stefanski Details Plan for Starters for Falcons vs. Dolphins Preseason Game 3

Atlanta Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski announced this week that Tua Tagovailoa will start on Friday night against his old team the Miami Dolphins. The plan is for Cooper Rush to follow him, and Jack Strand gets closes the game.

Michael Penix Jr. returned to 11v11 team drills this week, and Stefanski didn't want to expose his third-year quarterback to game situations after just three practices facing a defensive line.

So much focus has been on the quarterbacks, but what about the rest of the team for Friday night? Running back Bijan Robinson has just four preseason rushing attempts in his four-year NFL career, all against the Cincinnati Bengals in his rookie season.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski believes in healthy players getting action in the preseason, helped by data compiled by the NFL.

"We'll see how many plays we get," Stefanski said at his press conference on Wednesday. "I also know I want to get down there and see what the game looks like and how the guys are doing, that type of thing.

"But starters will play. Their playtime will vary by person in terms of what we end up doing with each one.”

Left tackle Jake Matthews came out after just one series last week, so we'll see how much action he gets, but everyone else is expected to see some time. He and right tackle Jawaan Taylor, who has yet to feature in a preseason game, took veteran rest days this week.

"One of the things that you learn from the data that medical provides you is how much you should do, what playing in these games, what playing in joint practices does to your first few weeks of the season from a soft tissue perspective, which I believe in," said Stefanski.

"There's great data that was shared with us at the league meetings, and we've tried to follow through on a lot of that. So, getting X number of plays in preseason, getting to joint practices, I think sets you up for success in the fall. It's not a guarantee of anything, but it does set you up. So, we have a plan."

The Falcons have had a mixed approach in recent years with no definitive conclusion. Former head coach Raheem Morris rarely played players on his two-deep depth chart, and certainly no starters. The Falcons were the fourth-healthiest team in his first season in 2024, and dropped to 20th last year, according to For the Numbers.

His teams in Cleveland during that span were 26th and 27th. It's no surprise to see bad teams at the top of the injury list. First, injuries make it harder to win games, and second, players on a team heading for a top-five draft pick aren't as likely to push through nagging injuries in December that plague every NFL player.

"I don't know if there's one right way or wrong way, but I do trust in having all this data available to us and make sure that we put our guys in position to be set up for success Week 1 through Week 17 and so on if you earn the plus part of that. So, just try to be very intentional about how you put the training camp together, the preseason plan together, all in an effort to get ready for what is, as we all know, a long season,” Stefanski said.

The Atlanta Falcons and their available starters will take on the Miami Dolphins on Friday at 7 p.m. EST at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. The game will be televised locally on FOX 5.

Enjoy our content? Make FalconsOnSI a Preferred Source to see more stories from us on Google: https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=si.com

Add us as a preferred source on Google