Steelers Players React to Tua Tagovailoa News

Sports Steelers Players React to Tua Tagovailoa News The Pittsburgh Steelers' defense has plenty of experience on both a personal and team level against Atlanta Falcons quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who has officially been named the team's starter ahead of their Week 1 trip to Acrisure Stadium. Patrick Queen, who was a rival of Tagovailoa during their collegiate careers at LSU and Alabama, respectively, offered his reaction to the news as the Steelers prepare for the former Miami Dolphins signal caller. "Congrats to him," Queen said. "SEC guy, Bama guy, even though we hate those guys, just the stuff that he's been through and then going to a new place and being able to start... We all know Tua, he's a great dude, great quarterback. You kind of feel for guys who went through the things that he went through, 'cause that's life-changing things." Dec 15, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Jalen Ramsey (5) sacks Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) in the third quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect Can't Expect the Same Old Tua While there's gobs of game film on Tagovailoa from his days with the Dolphins, for whom he made 76 starts over six seasons, Queen hammered home the point that Pittsburgh can't take a ton away from its winning performance against him in 2025 due to the fact that he's with a new team and in a fresh system. "I don't think you can do that," Queen said. "It's a different offense, different system. I think the only things you can prepare for is his quick timing, just seeing how he does that, but at the same time they've got new coaches so it could change, messing with his technique or whatever it is. It's just really the first drive is coming out there trying to figure everything out." Jaquan Brisker echoed that sentiment based on the fact that Tagovailoa and head coach Kevin Stefanski are heading into their first games with the Falcons, though there are some prior trends the Steelers can pick apart. "Obviously we don't know exactly what they're gonna do, but a little familiarity from the Cleveland Browns and different things with Tua and how he played before," Brisker said. "We're just trying to do based off of that, but we obviously don't know what we're gonna get Week 1. They don't know what we're going to do Week 1, so we're just ready for that test." Rayshawn Jenkins, who intercepted Tagovailoa last year as a member of the Cleveland Browns, also spoke about what he's doing to prepare for the left-hander in the season opener. "I'm just watching film, getting my keys, I'm gonna make sure I know what to do and then we'll kind of react to everything," Jenkins said. "I played Tua a few times, we've been successful. He's still an NFL quarterback at the end of the day so he does some stuff well, but everyone has tendencies and it's our job to kind of pick those things out and play within our scheme." Sep 14, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt (90) in action against the Seattle Seahawks during the third quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect Steelers' Defense Has Huge Opportunity Though Pittsburgh has a new coaching staff as well, its defense is familiar with Stefanski's offense, considering he was the Browns' head coach from 2020 to 2025. That should go a long way towards jumping out to a strong start on that side of the ball this season, especially with a quarterback like Tagovailoa who is limited physically. The Falcons have a good infrastructure surrounding Tagovailoa with the likes of Bijan Robinson, Drake London and Kyle Pitts, but his well below-average arm strength and lack of mobility will limit the upside of the entire unit. Tagovailoa is going to look to get the ball into the hands of his playmakers as quickly as possible, but the Steelers aren't going to make things easy on that front with their pass rush. He's prone to interceptions too, having thrown 15 in 2025 and 59 for his career, so perhaps Pittsburgh's secondary can take advantage of that tendency and flip the field once or twice too. Make sure to bookmark Steelers On SI, and find our podcast All Steelers Talk on YouTube or anywhere you listen! Today's best reads This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/steelers/onsi as Steelers Players React to Tua Tagovailoa News. Copyright ABG-SI LLC. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. All Rights Reserved. This story was originally published September 7, 2026 at 3:00 PM.