Tua Tagovailoa cares more about this part of Falcons tenure than winning the starting job

Numerous reports have suggested that free-agency signing Tua Tagovailoa is the favorite to defeat Michael Penix Jr. in the competition to win the Atlanta Falcons' starting quarterback job this summer. 

While speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Tagovailoa suggested that he's more concerned about the team's overall goal than about where he'll be on the depth chart come Labor Day.

Tua Tagovailoa wants to win the Super Bowl with the Falcons as a starter or a backup

"The team winning the Super Bowl, I think that’d be amazing whether I’m the guy or whether I’m not the guy," Tagovailoa said, per Josh Kendall of The Athletic. "I think that would be unbelievable in any way I can help make that happen. I’m excited to be here for that." 

Of course, history shows that getting solid-to-elite play from the quarterback position would go a long way toward the Falcons achieving the goal of winning a Super Bowl. As for Penix, he hasn't yet been cleared to participate in 11-on-11 work coming off surgery to repair a partially torn ACL. Thus, Tagovailoa is getting a head start in a quarterback battle that some think may already be over. 

"You can just tell that he’s been here working — and working really hard — to be able to get back out there," Tagovailoa said about Penix. "And you can see the level of respect that the guys that have been here last year have for him, both offense and defense."

Tua Tagovailoa makes promise to Michael Penix Jr.

A 2024 first-round draft pick, Penix won just four of 12 starts across the first two regular seasons of his pro career. While his long-term future with the Falcons will be in doubt if he ends August as Atlanta's QB2, Tagovailoa is only on a one-year contract.

"Competition has been around us our entire lives," Tagovailoa added about Penix. "For Mike, for all the other guys that are in that locker room, competition has been there. It’s a competition, don’t get me wrong. I’ve got to go out there and compete, and MP has to go out there and compete. But for me, it would just be wrong not to help."

If Tagovailoa can win games and also help Penix improve, the Falcons' quarterback situation for 2026 and beyond could be better off than some viewed it a few short months ago.