Falcons home opener vs. Panthers: still no QB1, Tua still not practicing, and Bijan remains the plan

The Falcons still don't have a starting quarterback, and the clock is down to days instead of weeks. Tua Tagovailoa hasn't practiced at all this week with an oblique injury. Michael Penix Jr. is a full participant but still won't put a number on how close he is to 100%. Cooper Rush is the only one of the three who has actually taken a real snap this season, and he's the one who threw the pick-six that sank Week 1.

Carolina comes to Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m. anyway, and Atlanta is 0-1 with a division that somehow didn't gain a single game on anybody in Week 1.

The quarterback room is a coin flip the staff won't call

Kevin Stefanski has been careful not to rule anyone out, which is the coached answer but also close to the truth. Tua was a DNP on Thursday after sitting out Wednesday too. Penix was listed as a full participant on the official injury report, which is the most encouraging line he's produced all month. Rush, dealing with a back issue of his own, was also full.

So Atlanta goes into the weekend with three quarterbacks who can all theoretically play and none of whom the team will name. The one thing we do know: whoever starts is handing off a lot. Penix told reporters this week he's "closer" than he was and that the Falcons "deserve 100%" from him — which is a nice way of saying a 70% version of him isn't the answer to a coin-flip offense.

Bijan is the whole plan, and Carolina can't stop the run

Bijan Robinson put up 173 of Atlanta's 238 total yards in Pittsburgh. That's not a good stat, that's a warning label — the passing game did almost nothing, Nick Folk missed two early kicks, and a turnover turned into seven the other way. The fix isn't complicated on paper.

The Panthers gave up 291 rushing yards to the Bears in Week 1. Two hundred and ninety-one. If you are an offensive coordinator with Bijan Robinson on the roster and a quarterback situation you'd rather not lean on, you know exactly what Sunday's game plan looks like. Drake London and Kyle Pitts are going to be more valuable as blockers and decoys than as 10-target receivers, at least until someone settles in under center.

Hand is done for the year, and the roster keeps churning

Atlanta placed defensive lineman Da'Shawn Hand on injured reserve after the quad injury he suffered early in the second quarter in Pittsburgh. He'll need surgery and he's out for the season. That's a real loss for a defensive front that already lost its top pass rushers before the season started.

The Falcons signed tight end Nick Muse to the 53 to fill the spot, then refilled the practice squad with defensive end Drake Jackson — the former second-rounder with six career sacks — and veteran running back Khalil Herbert, who has 1,957 career rushing yards and knows GM Ian Cunningham from their Chicago days. Herbert is a nice insurance chip behind Bijan; Jackson is a dart throw at interior pressure.

The injury report actually got better at two spots

A.J. Terrell was a full participant Thursday after missing Wednesday with the shoulder he tweaked against Pittsburgh, and Chris Lindstrom returned in a limited capacity as he works through the concussion protocol. If both play, the Falcons get their best corner and their best guard back for a game they should win on paper.

Jawaan Taylor (knee) missed practice again, and Za'Darius Smith got a rest day. The betting market has Carolina as a 2.5-point favorite on the road, which tells you exactly how much the league thinks of Atlanta's offense right now.

Bird Gang bottom line

This is a get-right game disguised as a trap game. Carolina is not good — it just let Chicago run for nearly 300 yards — and the Falcons are at home with a healthy Bijan and a defense that should feast on a Panthers offense that's still figuring out who it is. Run the ball 35 times, don't ask the quarterback to win it, and get to 1-1 before the schedule gets real. If Atlanta loses this one with the season 0-2 and the QB room still unresolved, the discourse gets ugly fast.

Pick'em-wise, this is the kind of Week 2 game that decides leagues — half your group is going to take Carolina because of the spread, and the pickembaby.com leaderboard doesn't care about your feelings about Cooper Rush.

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