The Wire: Atlanta Picks Tua, New England Waits
Tua starts Sunday in Pittsburgh; Penix's knee isn't ready. Henderson still isn't practicing. Club action: London and Pitts hold at cost, Stevenson up to 64, don't pay for Henderson until he practices.
XXVIII
The Wire · Monday, September 7, 2026 · morning
- What happened
- Atlanta named Tua Tagovailoa the Week 1 starter — Michael Penix Jr.'s knee isn't ready for Sunday in Pittsburgh. In Foxborough, TreVeyon Henderson (ankle) was in street clothes again Sunday and still hasn't practiced in the week of the opener.
- Player / team
- Tua Tagovailoa, QB & Michael Penix Jr., QB — Atlanta; TreVeyon Henderson & Rhamondre Stevenson, RB — New England
- Verified
- Falcons announcement Monday on the team site, matched by ESPN and NBC's Pro Football Talk. Henderson runs through Boston beat reporting — street clothes ahead of Sunday's session (Boston Herald), still not practicing per PFT. The team's first official injury report of the week will say the rest.
- Fantasy effect
- The club priced Tua in weeks ago — London's and Pitts's lines already assumed the timing throws. Penix is a name for dynasty ledgers, not September rosters. New England's backfield is the live one: every missed session tilts early-down and goal-line work toward Stevenson, and drafts are still selling him well under the board.
- Club action
- London and Pitts hold at cost. The Morning Line moved the backfield: Stevenson 68 → 64, Henderson 64 → 68 with a flag — don't pay for the checkdown role until he practices. Drafting tonight: Stevenson is the value; Henderson is somebody else's dart.
- Next update
- New England's first official injury report of the week — or the moment Henderson practices.
The Melbourne file, while we're here: McCaffrey sat out Monday's early drills — undisclosed, flagged on the board. Kittle practiced coming off the Achilles. Nacua's core is cleared and McVay expects him Thursday. Evans wore full pads. Two teams flew twenty hours to open the season and the injury report is somehow the least exotic thing about it.