Tua Tagovailoa frustrated with Falcons debut after unceremonious Dolphins exit

At least it’s just the preseason.Tua Tagovailoa’s first chance to impress with the Falcons did not go as planned, with the quarterback lamenting his team’s performance in a 27-7 home loss to the Broncos in the preseason opener at home on Friday night.The ex-Dolphin completed 3 of 5 passes for 22 yards.“Definitely not up to standard, not even up to par,” Tagovailoa said after leading two drives that ended in punts.“What we put out there is not a reflection of the hard work we’ve put in the first two weeks into training camp and it does no justice for the work that our coaches as well have implemented.“It starts with me, I got to be better with that.”Tagovailoa joined Atlanta this offseason after a poor end to his time with the Dolphins and there are plenty of questions about his effectiveness.He’s competing with Michael Penix Jr.

for the starting role in one of the more underwhelming quarterback battles in the sport.Penix is sidelined at the moment in his return from a torn ACL suffered last November, affording Tagovailoa a chance to grab an early lead in the competition.He did not do that Friday night.Tagovailoa harped on the second play of the game, a fumbled snap that put the Falcons in a 3rd-and-15 and ultimately led to a punt.Atlanta’s second opportunity featured a completion for a first down, but two incompletions and a penalty stalled the drive.“Both frustrated and disappointed with the way things happened tonight, as we went out there,” Tagovailoa said.Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski didn’t specifically evaluate Tagovailoa’s performance due to the limited amount of snaps, but noted they could have been better.He also cited the fumbled snap.Stefanski is an offensive-minded coach and will be tasked with elevating either Tagovailoa or Penix to be quality starters and afford the Falcons a chance to claim a winnable NFC South.Tagovailoa is only 28 and once seemed like the Dolphins’ quarterback of the future, but multiple concussions ...