Atlanta Falcons Backup QBs Get Chance to Shine vs. Detroit Lions

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga – Preseason football may not have the juice of a regular-season game, but for players like Easton Stick and Emory Jones, it’s an audition. 

The third and fourth quarterbacks are set to take the ball for the Atlanta Falcons on Friday at 7 p.m. against the Lions for the first preseason game of 2025. 

Exhibition games can be a tricky situation for any player, but especially for reserve quarterbacks like Stick or Jones. The offensive line is fluid, as are the guys who are running routes. On top of that, they are facing defenses with several players fighting for roster spots and largely unafraid to put a little extra into every snap they are in on. 

Stick was adamant that he wasn’t worried about any of that. He just wants to play football.  

“Any time you get a chance to play, that’s what we want to do because this stuff is great,” Stick said. “You want to go out there and play. You understand it’s preseason, it’s not necessarily putting a game plan together and doing all of it, but getting the chance to tee it up and keep score and all that stuff is a lot of fun.” 

As a result of being the starter for Friday’s game with the Lions, Stick will have a great chance to help the back-end of a competitive wide receiver room get good looks. The players who will be activated for the game remain to be seen, but guys like Casey Washington, Nick Nash, DJ Chark, and David Sills V will likely be his primary targets in the early parts of the game. 

Passing game coordinator TJ Yates is not trying to put too much pressure on the pair of quarterbacks playing on Friday. 

“It’s about being able to go out there and operate our offense efficiently,” he said Monday after practice. “It’s tough to get threes and fours a lot of reps in camps. That’s always going to be a tough thing, but just to see them handle our offense, get some completions, move the ball up and down the field, [and] try to score some points.” 

The 2019 fifth-round pick, whom the Falcons signed earlier this offseason from Los Angeles, played his whole career with the Chargers. He suited up for five games in 2023, starting four, completing 63.8 percent of his passes for 1,129 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. 

“Obviously, Stick’s been in the league,” Michael Penix Jr. said. “He knows what [the game] looks like, he knows how to play the position at this level. He’s been in there during game-time situations when he was in LA and (Justin) Herbert went down.”

Jones, meanwhile, has yet to appear in an NFL game. He will likely get the ball in the second half with the other reserves. 

The 2025 season will usher in a unique situation for both Stick and the Falcons. Whether they care to admit it or not, the status of Kirk Cousins will continue to hover over the franchise. If they were to make a move, whether during preseason or even during the regular season, whoever wins the job between Stick and Jones would likely be elevated to a backup role. 

As a result, the franchise could opt to carry three quarterbacks into the season on their active roster, but they also may not, and have no choice but to keep Cousins around all year if a decent trade offer never arrives.

To this point in camp, both Penix and Cousins have looked good enough as individual players to start games in 2025. But the job clearly belongs to Penix, and neither player has done anything to change that thought. 

Behind those two, both Jones and Stick will try to make their case on Friday. 

All we know for sure is that neither Cousins nor Penix will take any reps against the Lions, or likely for any game during the preseason. In a season where the quarterback room will be under a national spotlight, every snap feels like it could matter just a little bit more.