Cooper Rush was never supposed to start a game for the Atlanta Falcons this season unless necessary. With Michael Penix Jr. still not at 100% after his ACL tear last season, veteran quarterback Tua Tagovailoa took most of the first-team reps through training camp, and head coach Kevin Stefanski named him the Week 1 starter. But with Tua sidelined with an oblique injury, Rush became the starter two days before the regular season kickoff. What happened next wasn’t hard to guess.

Against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1, Rush completed 12-of-22 passes for 143 yards, a single touchdown, 4 sacks, and two picks, finishing with a dreadful 2.6 QBR and 51.9 passer rating. Former Falcons fullback Ovie Mughelli saw that game, and when he appeared on the Bleav In Panthers podcast, he laid out a blunt criticism of the 32-year-old quarterback.

“You know, I know, we all know Cooper needs to rush on out of Atlanta and find somewhere else to play because, I hate bagging on or ragging on people individually and personally,” Mughelli said. “It’s not personal, but his play made it personal. It was something to where Falcons fans around the world were just like, ‘You pay Bijan [Robinson], you pay Drake [London], you pay Kyle Pitts, you’re paying [Matthew] Bergeron, the offensive lineman, you pay all these offensive weapons, and we can’t get a guy to get the ball to them.’”

In Cooper Rush’s defense, he’s the third-string quarterback, meant only to take the field when the QB1 and QB2 get sidelined. Behind him on the depth chart is UDFA rookie QB Jack Strand. While they were depth additions at best, it was supposed to be Tua or Penix’s show to run. But Cooper did have a 9-7 starting record heading into Week 1 – that’s across 43 games played across 9 NFL seasons, however scattered. Year 10 should have brought some of that experience on the field, and that’s the point Mughelli drives home again.

“I’m not a quarterback, so I’m not saying it’s easy,” Mughelli admitted before ploughing on. “I did halfback passes when I was in high school, and I would get the ball, I look at my receiver, I would throw the ball, and point A to point B is 5 to 10 yards. I can do that. And it felt like at times he couldn’t do that. So, I apologize; I’ve never spoken to this young man. I’m sure he’s a great person, but to have our third-string quarterback starting Week 1 after months and months of going back and forth of is it Penix, is it Tua, is it Tua, is it Penix. It’s so very Falcon of us, and our fans are up to here. They’re up to the headspace, and they just want us to play up to our potential.

“It’s different. We had Desmond Ridder, and we kind of know that it is what he can do. But we had a whole plan to make sure we didn’t have a Marcus Mariota, Desmond Ridder, somebody who’s just like, all right, we already know our quarterback’s gonna be a weak spot. We had plans to put somebody in there that can give us a chance to win. Didn’t happen. That’s why we lost: the quarterback.”

Now, there’s another case to be made here for Cooper Rush. He experienced back spasms on Saturday, which caused some concern about his Week 1 status. But he felt better on the morning of the game, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. To manage the game, Kevin Stefanski had told Cooper to “Operate the offense. Get the ball out quickly to your playmakers.” And for the most part, that’s what he did.

With Rush under center, Bijan Robinson got the ball 21 times to gain 83 yards. Brian Robinson got 9 carries for 31 yards, and even Drake London got a carry for 6 yards. But none of it was enough. Rush’s only passing touchdown of the game came by the hands of Robinson, who also had 8 catches for 90 yards. None of it was enough to get past Pittsburgh’s veteran defense.

Pittsburgh standout outside linebacker TJ Watt landed two sacks, two QB hits, three tackles for loss, defended a pass, and even scored a defensive touchdown against Rush. Two more sacks by fellow linebacker Alex Highsmith, along with two tackles for loss, killed any momentum Rush could have created.

Now, the Falcons are undecided on who should start Week 2 against the visiting Carolina Panthers. If Tua’s oblique issue is settled, he gets a shot, but if Penix feels like he’s ready to go, both Tua and Rush take a backseat. Either way, rushing in a third-string quarterback against Carolina–who just put 37 points on the board in their season opener–doesn’t seem like the way to go. The Falcons still have time to decide, but that window is getting smaller every day.