Just days earlier, Tua Tagovailoa was standing before reporters, calling the chance to win the Atlanta Falcons’ starting quarterback job “a blessing.” Then reality hit fast. By Thursday, an oblique injury had forced him to the sideline in practice before he could even take his first regular-season snap in a Falcons uniform. That sharp turn from celebration to setback was enough for former NFL head coach Todd Haley to finally say what others may have been thinking.

Haley, who coached the Kansas City Chiefs and also worked as an offensive coordinator in Arizona, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland, made the comparison while speaking with Go Long’s Tyler Dunne. He pointed to Russell Wilson’s late-career stops with the Steelers and Giants, where Haley believed self-preservation had started to creep into Wilson’s game.

“If you’re not 100 percent in, you’re not in. You’ve retired. You just haven’t announced it,” said Haley. “I think we’re seeing it with Tua last year, and what we’re seeing kind of this progression into the regular season for the Falcons.

“I feel like this is my opinion. I don’t know that I’m right, but I feel like Tua is now retired and hasn’t told anybody yet. He wants to be out there, but he really doesn’t.”

The concussions are an important part of why Haley’s comments carry weight. Tagovailoa had three diagnosed concussions with Miami, including the 2022 hit against Cincinnati. After those injuries, he trained in jiu-jitsu to learn safer ways to fall and protect his head.

Haley connected that history to a self-preservation instinct. He says he’s watched fear take over players at every position once the risk of continuing to play starts outweighing the reward in their own head.

“What I saw at the tail end of Miami’s season last year, and then he got benched, but it didn’t look right. It didn’t look like somebody that was fighting until the end.”

That’s a heavy claim to level at a player with Tagovailoa’s financial security already locked in. According to figures cited during the podcast, Tagovailoa has earned more than $124 million across his NFL career. That’s money Haley suggested removes some of the burning motivation a less-established player might still be chasing on a one-year, minimum-level deal.

The timing only sharpened the theory.

Tagovailoa dealt with a tight back throughout the preseason before an oblique injury surfaced in Thursday’s practice, ruling him out of Sunday’s opener against Pittsburgh.

But head coach Kevin Stefanski’s response did not sound like a coach questioning Tagovailoa’s commitment. He felt disappointed for the quarterback and stressed that Tagovailoa is a “very competitive person,” adding that he expected the player to rally behind Cooper Rush and help the team.

Rush took every rep with the first-team offense on Thursday. Then, during the media’s viewing window at Friday’s practice, he handled all the passing drills as well.

More importantly, when asked whether Tagovailoa’s status was day-to-day or week-to-week, the head coach said “yes.”

That leaves Atlanta waiting rather than making any bigger judgment on Tagovailoa’s future. For now, the Falcons are treating this as an injury setback, not a sign that their quarterback has lost interest in playing.

The move that brought Tua Tagovailoa to Atlanta

The Dolphins moved on from Tagovailoa in March, ending sis six-year run in Miami. There was $99.2 million in dead money left on the four-year, $212.4 million extension he signed in 2024.

Tagovailoa was the NFL’s passing-yards leader in 2023 and made his first Pro Bowl. He was also diagnosed with three concussions while in Miami.

So, Atlanta gave Tagovailoa a chance to start over on a one-year deal worth close to the league minimum. But he was not handed the job. He arrived alongside 2024 first-round pick Michael Penix Jr., with general manager Ian Cunningham making it clear that the quarterback competition was open from the start.

“For Tua, coming in here, he knows he’s coming in to compete, just like Michael knows that he’s coming in to compete,” said Cunningham in March. “There are no starters right now.”

The competition stretched through the summer as Penix worked his way back from the ACL tear he suffered in November 2025. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported that Penix was not cleared for full 11-on-11 work until late August, which played a role in Atlanta choosing Tagovailoa to start Week 1, just before he was ruled out with the oblique injury.

Cooper Rush prepares to start the season opener against the Steelers, while Penix continues his recovery. Whether Todd Haley’s theory holds any weight will only become clearer once Tagovailoa is healthy and back on the field.