Football has finally arrived... in some form. The Atlanta Falcons kick off their 2026 preseason schedule on Friday night at home against the Denver Broncos, offering their first outside challenge before a new chapter begins for Atlanta.
It sounds like it'll be more than your usual NFL preseason slop, too. Head coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters a couple weeks ago that he plans to play Falcons starters in Week 1 and Week 3 during the preseason, relying on the joint practices with the Indianapolis Colts for starter reps in Week 2.
As for the Broncos, head coach Sean Payton has a different idea in mind. On Monday, he told Denver beat reporters that his starters will play during the preseason, but he will be playing it by ear as to how much.
"They’ll play, but we haven’t gone through the role yet. I’ll let you guys know... I think it’s hard to replicate it... Every year everyone talks about it, and you have to build a callus. And so, I just believe in that. And now there’s some, maybe based on injury or where they’re at, we might hold back. But generally, we’re going to want to play them some in the first game, a little bit more in the second, and then we’ll see where we’re at in the third.”
The real unknown here is if that includes the Broncos' starting quarterback Bo Nix, who suffered an ankle injury in the playoffs that forced him out of the AFC Championship game and likely cost Denver a trip to the Super Bowl. Nix claims that there's nothing holding him back coming off the injury. If that's true we will likely see him in the lineup for at least a few series on Friday against Atlanta's defensive starters minus Jalon Walker.
The biggest challenge for the Falcons on this side of the ball may be at cornerback, where they'll have to contain Denver's top off-season pickup, former Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle. The rest of Denver's 22 projected starters are all returning from last season.
On the other side of the ball, the big task may simply be how to split up the reps at quarterback. Michael Penix hasn't been cleared yet for 11-on-11s, so he definitely won't be facing a live defense wearing a different uniform.
That leaves new head coach Kevin Stefanski to decide between Tua Tagovailoa, veteran backup Cooper Rush and undrafted rookie Jack Strand. Stefanski said he would reveal whether or not Tagovailoa will play on Wednesday.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: What Sean Payton said about preseason plan for Broncos starters
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