Tua Tagovailoa has yet to make his regular season debut for the Atlanta Falcons, but he is already being touted as a cut candidate.After being waived by the Miami Dolphins – to leave them with a record $99m dead cap hit – Tagovailoa joined the Falcons and won the battle to be named the starting quarterback for the 2026 season.Tagovailoa won the QB1 battle in AtlantaGettyHe essentially won it by default, though, with former first-round NFL Draft pick Michael Penix Jr. limited as he continues his recovery after undergoing surgery for a partially torn ACL.Even the wording of the team announcement said ‘Week 1 starter’ leaving Tua on notice almost from the get-go.The Falcons now find themselves in a slight predicament with Tagovailoa now day-to-day after suffering an oblique injury in practice on Thursday.Third-string signal caller Cooper Rush then revealed that he took all of the first-team reps during the team part of practice and earlier in the week had been confirmed as QB2 for Sunday’s opener.Despite Tagovailoa’s status being cast into some doubt, there is growing speculation that Penix will assume Atlanta’s starting role – once he is healthy enough to do so.In fact, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio is of the belief that if Tagovailoa is benched – which he feels is in an inevitability – then he will be cut from the team.“For now, Tua has a chance to fend off a benching. If he can’t, he may not be able to fend off a termination,” Florio wrote. “There is, we’re told, a ‘strong possibility’ Tua will be released if/when he’s replaced. The chance of that happening will increase if he eventually yields not to Penix but to veteran Cooper Rush, who has 16 NFL starts under his belt. …“This year, something is off. It’s been obvious when he played in the preseason.”Tua looking over his shoulderTagovailoa featured during the Falcons’ preseason campaign, but didn’t leave a lasting impression – not a positive one anyway.Atlanta travel to Acrisure Stadium where they will meet the Pittsburgh Steelers for their season opener, which just so happens to be where Tagovailoa made his last start for the Dolphins in December, before his benching.Some believe it’s only a matter of time before Penix Jr. replaces Tagovailoa as QB1GettyFalcons HC Stefanski believes Tua will be out to silence his doubtersGetty“His last visit to Pittsburgh didn’t go well. I was in the building that day,” former Steelers coach, Mike Tomlin said of the Falcons QB, said in his new role as an NBC analyst.Tagovailoa is seeking to resurrect his NFL career having gone from leading the league in passing yards in 2023 to throwing the second-most interceptions in 2025 with 15 in 14 games.Bringing him to the Falcons was a low-risk, high-reward scenario for the organization as they are only required to pay the QB – who has earned $124 million over his career – a minimum $1.215 million for 2026. Injured or not, Tagovailoa doesn’t just have Penix and Rush chasing down his tail, but also undrafted rookie Jack Strand, whose impressive training camp and preseason performances saw him earn his way onto the 53-man roster. Head coach Kevin Stefanski, though, believes that his quarterback will be desperate to prove his critics wrong. “You want to prove people wrong,” Stefanski said of his new starter. “You have a chip on your shoulder.“I think where I’m coming into this, where Tua’s coming into this is, listen, this is not exactly how you thought it would go, but guess what, that’s the reality, and how are we gonna respond?“I think that’s what he’s made of. You look at his career, you look back at his college career, he’s responded.”Time will tell. Join talkSPORT’s dedicated US Sports YouTube channel The S* Word every Tuesday and Thursday for our brand new NFL shows.On Tuesdays, Will Gavin and US senior reporter Brian T. Smith will debate the biggest talking points from the NFL weekend, while on Thursdays Efe Obada joins the crew to talk to players past and present and break down what to look for across the league.