- 22 hours ago
Tua Tagovailoa spoke to Atlanta media for the first time since signing with the Falcons, and Carl is smitten by what he had to say about running Kevin Stefanski's offense and competing against Michael Penix Jr. for the starting quarterback role.
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00:00So you guys remember last year when Miami came in here
00:04and I said Tua was hot garbage because he was.
00:07He was playing terrible coming into this game.
00:10I think he had thrown four interceptions the week before.
00:13Comes in, basically is almost perfect against us.
00:17Miami wins the game and I'm hot.
00:20But as he was introduced to the media today,
00:22one of the questions he was asked was,
00:26what happened last season, right?
00:28And I would have loved, and I don't know if Mark Ramondi or of our guy,
00:31Josh Kendall or anybody else that was on this presser,
00:34at the presser, followed up with, what happened?
00:38Because your play just went downhill.
00:41And the reason that's important is because either the coach lost focus,
00:45who, by the way, is considered one of these offensive geniuses
00:48in NFL circles, in Mike McDaniel, or your play just fell off.
00:52But Tua's answer was, Mike, it was, quote, unique
00:56when asked about what happened in Miami and how his play was.
01:01And he said, unique.
01:02And then when asked about what do you mean, he replied, in a lot of ways.
01:06And I said, no, it was unique because you blew it.
01:08You had an opportunity to show everybody that this was going to be a team
01:12that you could lead not only last year but to the playoffs
01:15and be the consistent franchise quarterback.
01:16So then he comes on with Andy and Randy.
01:18And just, you know, that last answer where he talks about being a polarized figure,
01:22he's not on social media, so he's not seeing all your stuff.
01:25He's not seeing what I'm saying about him, which is great.
01:28But he is right from the standpoint of when it's going great,
01:32quarterback gets all the love.
01:33When it's going bad, you get killed.
01:35But my question, Mike, and nobody's really answered this,
01:38and maybe we'll get it out of Tua as we move forward because this is a competition,
01:41so hopefully we'll have plenty of access to him.
01:48Where does this go now for him?
01:50And he talked about you're getting the best version of Tua Tungabailoa.
01:53If that's true, Mike, three years ago he was one of the better quarterbacks in the league,
01:57which is why he got the bag he got.
01:58And everybody said we've got to believe in him despite this concussion thing.
02:01All I'm saying, guys, is if he's a team guy and he comes in and makes Michael Penix better
02:08and in the process helps us win, I'm all in.
02:12I'm not all in because I saw him regress, get worse at the position, Mike,
02:17and not be as efficient as he should have been when the offense was built for him.
02:23This is not that.
02:24No, and you mentioned it.
02:25The two games leading up to us, he had thrown one touchdown and six interceptions,
02:28and then he looked like a rock star against us.
02:30Again, it was all – it's what he throws.
02:32He doesn't have the arm strength to go down the field.
02:34Maybe they'll try to push it a little bit here with our offense,
02:36but it's all underneath stuff.
02:38He only threw for 200 yards and four touchdowns because the guys,
02:40the receiver's doing all the work.
02:42Then after us, he gets benched against Baltimore in a horrible loss.
02:45So, again, everyone jokes around that, well, he did pretty good against Georgia.
02:48Yes, he should have success at Mercedes-Benz.
02:51Look, everything – I just want to double down.
02:53Basically, everything you just said, I agree with.
02:55I don't have any expectations.
02:57He's never been asked to kind of do what you could argue Stefanski said
03:00he's going to ask him to do.
03:02Are you saying you don't feel –
03:03No, you're in love.
03:05I'm not in love.
03:06You're in love.
03:06You're not feeling the answers and the response that two of them make you feel better?
03:10Remember, we got done with Kirk Cousins, and I sounded just like you do right now.
03:14I was like, oh, my God, I love this guy.
03:16You did.
03:16You did.
03:17And I'm, never again.
03:18Fool me once.
03:19This dude, he's legit.
03:20And Bichon fell in love.
03:22Fool me once.
03:22Yeah.
03:23No, I don't believe – look, is he going to –
03:25Look, can we be honest?
03:26No, no, no.
03:27If he balls out, then Penix doesn't get on the field.
03:28But can we be honest?
03:29Cousins would still be here if you didn't lie, Kirk.
03:32Yep.
03:32Again, well, if you –
03:33If you didn't lie.
03:34If they just –
03:35I didn't forget how to play quarterback.
03:36Look, this – the wheel's in motion for this, and we all know – I want to cut into
03:40just real quick, because Kirk didn't know we were going to draft – if you told Kirk
03:45they're going to draft a quarterback, then maybe he doesn't sign here.
03:47Or maybe he doesn't.
03:48But you blindsided him.
03:50Again, I remember at the time, what is – you want to wheel Kirk Cousins?
03:52Well, he got in his bag, and then it propelled him down the season to say, no, I'm fine,
03:57when he wasn't.
03:58If it was Gardner Minshew or your garden variety backup, he takes a day off or takes two
04:02days off, and then he gets back out there, and he's better for it, as opposed to humping
04:07along with a clear injury that made him completely unable to do anything, to look like – like
04:12by that Raiders game in Vegas, he completely had to play the sport.
04:14Yeah.
04:15So it's all part and parcel of the dysfunction of the Falcons.
04:18But right now, Tua's going to have every opportunity.
04:20But here's the thing.
04:20If Tua keeps on balling, then Penix never gets on the field.
04:23Do you agree with that?
04:23I do agree with that.
04:24Right?
04:25I do agree with that.
04:26Then you're – that's an interesting question.
04:29How do you approach the future?
04:30We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
04:31Yes.
04:32I've said all along that I still believe, deep down, that they want to give
04:37Michael an opportunity to show because it's still cheaper at this point to do
04:43that and have a guy – and Mike, hopefully this competition compels him to be
04:48that.
04:49And I'm not saying that he needed it.
04:51I wish they would have done this again when Kirk was here instead of handing
04:53Michael the job and going away from Kirk to say, hey, Kirk, come back off the
04:58injury.
04:58Prove to us that you're the guy, and we'll see where this goes.
05:01Either way, that's water under the bridge.
05:03This is going to be interesting, though.
05:05And I've got to tell you guys something.
05:06I know there's not a whole lot of interest maybe nationally because there are a lot
05:10of folks who don't think we're a playoff team.
05:12But there's going to be a lot of interest in this quarterback battle.
05:15Of course.
05:15Of course.
05:15There's going to be a lot of people, Mike, watching to see how this shakes out.
05:20Because, again, Mike said it.
05:22Half the country thinks we're idiots.
05:23Not us.
05:24But the Falcons were doing what they did.
05:25The other half understands, hey, it didn't work out.
05:28Quarterback gets injured.
05:29If this happened and Cousins wasn't here, you'd still be in a quarterback mess.
05:34So, now we find ourselves in a different situation, but still no answers.
05:38And I just feel like, Mike, however this shakes out, if one guy doesn't win the job who we
05:42think should win the job, man, it's going to be story week after week.
05:47We're going to hear about it.
05:48I'm talking about during the football season.
05:51Sunday after Sunday.
05:51Right.
05:52And it's going to be one of those things.
05:54But, again, you know, we'll see.
05:55Both these quarterbacks, I mean, we just don't know when Michael gets out there.
05:59If I knew that it's a battle from quarterback the last week in July on.
06:02Different story.
06:03But we don't know that.
06:04And both guys have to get out of their comfort level.
06:06Because, as we said, the play action, all the things we yelled about last year with
06:10Zach Stefanski, he said it in his press conference.
06:12Play action.
06:13Under center.
06:15Both these guys have to get better at that.
06:17Actually, one guy's got to learn how to do it.
06:19So, we'll see.
06:20Can I ask a question to our audience?
06:22Sure.
06:23Y'all feeling better about Tua?
06:26Just a little.
06:26I can't believe someone.
06:27You're as jaded as I am.
06:29Why don't you bite your lip before you ask that question, Cara?
06:31What are you talking about?
06:32You bit your lip something seriously.
06:33I did not do that.
06:34I just simply asked a question.
06:36You bit your lip, Cara, before you asked that question.
06:38You bite your lip again right now, too.
06:40Don't you feel a little.
06:41Day Day, don't you feel a little bit better?
06:42If y'all can see his posture right now, y'all.
06:44He's got this kind of shy, like, maybe I like it, maybe I don't, maybe I do like it.
06:48Look, you know where I'm at.
06:49You know where I've been on this.
06:50I've been on the opposite side of this.
06:51You fall in love.
06:51Like a little boy with a crush on the neck, Cara.
06:53I said, don't do this, Falcons.
06:54I told you guys.
06:55Look what you've done to me.
06:57You fall in love easy, don't you?
06:58No, no, no.
06:59Don't bite that lip again, Cara.
07:01Don't bite that lip again, dog.
07:02You know what I want?
07:03You know what I want?
07:03I want honesty.
07:05His answers were good.
07:07Honesty is such a lonely word.
07:09I want honesty, Dave, even to her.
07:12You feel me?
07:13All jokes aside, I even got in your ear on the last question and told you.
07:17And you said I feel the same way.
07:19I heard you.
07:20I heard what you said.
07:21I'm talking all over your cackling.
07:22I just, is this the way you looked at me last year with Kirk Cousins?
07:27Yes, it is.
07:28Because I said, what are you, crazy?
07:29We talked to Kirk, I'm like, wow, man, Kirk, he just came up to us out of the blue and
07:33started
07:33talking to us, which nobody ever does.
07:36I was like, relax.
07:36T-Pain, man.
07:37This guy got y'all sprung.
07:39I mean, this guy's awesome.
07:39Kirk's talking to me about hockey and we're talking about everything and the commute.
07:43I'm like, I love this guy.
07:45And then he's the offensive player of the week twice.
07:47And then you're in a hospital bed all hooked up to these devices and you're like, have a
07:50nice life, Kirk.
07:51Sorry you sucked this year, Kirk.
07:53Sorry it didn't work out.
07:54Terrible.
07:54But thanks for the well wishes.
07:55But thanks for the well wishes.
07:56That was a terrible response.
07:58Well, I went south on it, man.
07:59I mean, you know.
08:00You could have been nice to the guy.
08:01I wear my heart on my sleeve literally that day.
08:03You really did.
08:04You really did.
08:05404-726-0929.
08:07You bit your damn lip, Carl.
08:08I did not.
08:08I did not.
08:10I did watch this love affair from long distance.
08:12You act like I just saw a 12 walking down the street and I'm like, oh my.
08:17You can't bite your lip.
08:18You're like you're over here feeling something right now, Carl.
08:20Here's what I'm feeling.
08:21Mike Bell is right.
08:22Look, I want to give the guy a chance.
08:25This is the 80s and Insatiable.
08:27My Prince just came on and you're over there thinking about some stuff right now.
08:29That's way too much.
08:32Don't you insult Insatiable.
08:33That's way too much.
08:35But Mike, I want to give him a chance.
08:36I want to.
08:38I don't want to go to camp jaded and I want to give him a shot.
08:41But I am not a believer because of what I've seen.
08:44I'm telling you.
08:45These last few years, guys, and it's just not coming from me.
08:47Everybody that was around Miami was saying the same things.
08:51And they were like, well, is it on Mike McDaniel or is it on Tua?
08:54And ultimately, the guy that made the decisions decided to bench him.
08:57Well, let me ask you this.
08:59Does this mean that Michael Penix is completely dead to you now that all the eggs are in the
09:03Tua basket?
09:03Why are you going to make me choose?
09:05Now I got to choose.
09:06Real quick.
09:06If this is a love.
09:07He was never by Penix, man.
09:08Now I got to choose.
09:09If this is a love triangle.
09:11Yeah.
09:11I mean, where are you in this?
09:12I mean, Penix Jr.
09:14He's gone.
09:15He's completely out of your mind.
09:16No.
09:17Penix Jr. doesn't exist in your world anymore.
09:19It's all about Tua.
09:20No, you know what?
09:20Tua, Tua, Tua.
09:21No, no.
09:22Tua to me one more time.
09:24Mike, I can't forget about Michael Penix because I do like the kid.
09:30You don't love him, though.
09:31I want to see him get a fair share.
09:32You don't love him.
09:33I don't love anybody right now.
09:34You love Tua.
09:35The way you feel about Tua.
09:36No, I just said, is he going to make me change my mind and feel better about this situation?
09:40Feels like the first time, doesn't it?
09:42Feels like the very first.
09:44I'm sorry.
09:45Hey, man.
09:46We're just talking about the interview with Andy.
09:48I'm not.
09:48Andy and Randy, they did a good job.
09:50But I just, again, I just want the truth.
09:52It's what we didn't get from Kirk Cousins, Mike, that bugged us.
09:55And then ultimately, we analyzed it and dissected it.
09:58No, Kirk Cousins' life was an open book until he got injured.
10:00Then everything's...
10:01And then it's like, well, what is it?
10:03And we talked about this both on and off the air last year.
10:06We were like, I love Kirk.
10:06He's a great guy.
10:08You know, he's played the system for more money than anybody.
10:11At the end of the day, he's going to have a postseason record that's nothing.
10:13And unfortunately for us, this is probably his last best chance to do something in the playoffs.
10:17One playoff win.
10:18Right.
10:18You know, and now, think about it.
10:21If you go back to where you were Halloween weekend in 2024, it was like, wow, we're winning this division.
10:26We're going someplace.
10:27And then it just all went, boop.
10:29And then we could never get the clarity.
10:31And that's why me, a lot of the fan base turned on Kirk.
10:34Whatever you do, Carl, when we're up there at Flowery, don't look in his eyes.
10:38Okay, would you stop it?
10:39Yes.
10:39Do not stare into his eyes.
10:41Would you stop?
10:42Look, he's got to still show me on the field.
10:45All I'm saying is...
10:46Are you going to bring him a lay?
10:48A what?
10:48You know, a Hawaiian lay.
10:50Oh, goodness.
10:51Welcome to Atlanta, Tua.
10:53Aloha.
10:53Yeah, that would be a first.
10:56404-726-0929.
10:58All right, just asking you guys.
10:59He spoke to the media today.
11:01There's the interview with Andy and Randy.
11:03Look, and I don't hate either one of these guys.
11:06You know what I'd love?
11:07I'd love for us to get competent quarterback play.
11:10Who's that going to be?
11:12Who's going to be able to give us that?
11:13I don't think either one of these guys gives us competent quarterback play.
11:16Well, then you may be right.
11:17And then we're back in the quarterback business in 27.
11:20You know, it's funny because Day Day, we were talking about this last week.
11:22And I keep saying, I tweeted it today, the best quarterback for us is probably playing
11:25Collins somewhere.
11:26Arch.
11:27You know what?
11:28I'm just assuming we won't be good enough.
11:30We won't be bad enough to pick Arch.
11:31I agree.
11:31I think we could be in a position to move up.
11:34Again, I know this is typical radio, you know, hypotheticals.
11:37But guys, and Oren, I've asked you about Trinidad Chambliss.
11:40That, to me, checks all the boxes.
11:43Mobility, personality for this town.
11:45Even the nine years in college?
11:46The nine years in college.
11:47Well, hey, Pennix.
11:48We got Pennix.
11:49He was 45 when we drafted Pennix.
11:51You know, so here we go.
11:52Yeah, I'm just saying.
11:53You know, how long was he in college?
11:54Nine years.
11:55Nine years.
11:55Pennix has got Walter Matthau's knees when we drafted him.
11:58So, I mean, you know, what's the difference?
12:00All right, man, I want to remind you guys, Atlanta is a radio home to the men and women's
12:04college basketball championships, is Sports Radio 92.9, the game.
12:08But we are going to be out at Twin Peaks on Friday, excuse me, Thursday, for the Sweet
12:1416, the start of Sweet 16.
12:15And then Friday, Mike, we're at Taco Mac Cumberland for the start of the baseball season.
12:20As close as we can legally be to the ballpark, we'll be at Taco Mac, great spot.
12:23We'll be woofing down wings and ice cold beer and having some fun.
12:26And so, Cumberland, even if you're not going to the ballgame and you're in that neck of
12:28the woods, in that part of Cobb and Smyrna, come by and see us at Taco Mac on a Friday.
12:33He ain't lying to me, Day-Day.
12:34I know he changed your mind, too.
12:36Wait, Day-Day, are you in love with Tua?
12:37I won't look in his eyes.
12:39Are you in love with Tua?
12:40I like his answers.
12:42Oh, my God.
12:43You guys are so soft.
12:45You guys are.
12:46You know what?
12:46I'm glad you admitted it, because that's what you said in my ear.
12:48You were like, I like this.
12:49Oh, my God.
12:50This is just like, this is role reversal.
12:51This is me with Kirk Cousins last year.
12:53Now, it's you two with Tua.
12:54I don't know what you're talking about, Mike.
12:55Oh, my God.
12:56I don't remember it that way.
12:58I wasn't with you guys.
12:59This is like, with Day-Day in the mix, it's a menage a tour.
13:04Whoa.
13:05Where are we going now with that?
13:07We went from biting lips to what is that?
13:10And I didn't bite my lip.
13:11Would you stop it with this nonsense?
13:12Four times, Carl.
13:13You bit your lip.
13:14We're coming back.
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