'Ugh,' a lefty QB: How the Falcons are defying NFL history - ESPN

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Tommy Rees had never coached a left-handed quarterback before this season, and suddenly he had two in Michael Penix Jr. and Tua Tagovailoa.

He also had a problem.

«Do we flip the drawings [of plays] so they don't look right-handed all the time, and leave them as lefty?» Rees asked. «Poor Mike Bearden, our [coaching fellow], he starts flipping all these things [to be] left-handed-friendly.»

But the Falcons had a bigger problem. They couldn't leave the diagrams lefty-friendly because neither Penix nor Tagovailoa was healthy heading into the regular season. Righty Cooper Rush started the first two games, both losses.

The Falcons finally get one of their lefties back this week, and the stakes are high. Penix will start in primetime Thursday on the road against the Green Bay Packers (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video).

Only 33 left-handed quarterbacks have made an NFL appearance, and just two — Steve Young and Ken Stabler — are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. What makes the left-handed QB unique isn't just which side he passes from, but how the ball spins and curves. Teams have to draw plays differently and make sure the right tackle — as opposed to the left for righties — is ready to protect the blind side.

«If you think about the number of lefties in NFL history, abnormally few,» Young told ESPN recently. «Just from a data perspective, it doesn't make sense how few quarterbacks are lefty.

»And one of the main reasons I can say why is because of the coaches. I think they're very right-handed and they don't encourage it. They see a lefty and they're like, 'ugh.' As if it's going to be more work."

Having two left-handed quarterbacks on the roster is rare, and it has