Tua Tagovailoa says Falcons' play 'not up to standard' in loss - ESPN

ATLANTA — Falcons quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was not pleased after his first game with the team.

Preseason or not, Tagovailoa said the Falcons' 27-7 loss to the Denver Broncos on Friday night was «definitely not up to standard, not even up to par» for Atlanta.

«Frustrated and disappointed at the way things happened tonight as we went out there,» Tagovailoa said.

Tagovailoa didn't play all that much — just two series. He was 3-of-5 passing for 22 yards with all four of his targets going to tight end Kyle Pitts Sr.

On his second snap, out of shotgun, Tagovailoa lost control of the ball and fumbled it before falling on it. He believes that set the tone for a lethargic start. The Broncos scored 24 unanswered points before the Falcons got on the board.

«Just thinking about it, what we put out there is not a reflection of the hard work that 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,» Tagovailoa said. «So, it starts with me, I got to be better with that. I thought off of that [second] play, [things] kind of got out of the rhythm.»

Tagovailoa is in somewhat of a competition with Michael Penix Jr. for the starting quarterback job. But Penix has not been cleared to practice fully. He cannot yet do 11-on-11 team sessions. So, Tagovailoa is ahead of Penix at this stage mostly by default.

He said he didn't think how he played Friday night did him any favors.

«I'm competing,» Tagovailoa said. «I'm wanting to go out there for points on the board, not go out there and we'll go three-and-out, three-and-out — not be able to perform to the level that I know I'm able to do. So always looking at everything as a competition, but just got to be better.»

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