Atlanta Falcons quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s first week as the team’s starter has been messy enough without the internet piling on theories about it. Former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Breiden Fehoko didn’t hold back on The Breiden Fehoko Show this week, laying out a timeline of events he says doesn’t add up.

“Earlier in the week, Tua quoted, he said, ‘I have nothing left to prove,'” Fehoko said on the show. “So, I’m looking at it, and I’m like, ‘Okay, he said early in the week he didn’t have nothing left to prove.’ Wednesday, Mike Tomlin gets up there on national TV and says Tua’s just always had struggles against the Steelers. He’s not that good. He is what he is when he puts it on tape. They got to play the Steelers on Sunday, and Thursday, back injury flares up. So it just, it seems a little fishy to me.”

Tagovailoa, who signed with Atlanta in March after Miami released him, was named the Falcons’ Week 1 starter over an injury-recovering Michael Penix Jr. on Monday. Two days later, he addressed the decision directly with reporters.

“I don’t think I, for myself, in what I believe, I don’t have anything to prove to anyone else,” Tagovailoa said on Wednesday, “but it’s to prove to my own self that I can continue to play at a high level.”

That same Wednesday night, former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin made his debut as an NBC analyst during the network’s regular season-opening broadcast, and he didn’t pull any punches previewing Sunday’s Falcons-Steelers matchup.

“It’s less about Aaron (Rodgers) for me, and it’s more about the quarterback on the other side,” Tomlin said. “His last visit to Pittsburgh didn’t go well. I was in the stadium that day. They lost, he got benched, and so I think it’s going to be a good day for Mike McCarthy, Patrick Graham, and the Pittsburgh Steelers and company.”

Tomlin was referring to Week 15 of last season, when Pittsburgh beat Miami 28-15 in a game where Tagovailoa threw for 253 yards and two touchdowns but was sacked four times. He was benched by the Dolphins in favor of Quinn Ewers, and that was the last time Tagovailoa played for Miami.

There is some history behind Fehoko’s suspicion. Tagovailoa is 1-1 against Pittsburgh, with 514 passing yards, three touchdowns, and one interception in those two meetings.

Then came Thursday. Tagovailoa reached for his lower back during the media-open portion of Falcons practice and sat down on the field. He didn’t throw again for the rest of the session reporters were allowed to observe, with backup Cooper Rush taking over first-team reps. Tagovailoa had already missed the first week of training camp back in August with a tight, flared-up back.

Atlanta listed him with a right oblique injury before ruling him out. Head coach Kevin Stefanski called him “week-to-week,” giving the Falcons no reason to rush him back for this matchup, and said the injury is unrelated to the back issue he dealt with at the start of training camp.

The Steelers had so far been preparing to face a right-handed quarterback in Tagovailoa. But that plan has to be scratched out for a new one, because Rush is left-handed.

Steeler Nation might be rejoicing that Rush is a backup, and seldom do backups fare well. But there is precedent of Pittsburgh losing to backup quarterbacks. Robert Griffin III for the Baltimore Ravens and Ryan Finley for the Cincinnati Bengals stunned the Steelers into defeat subbing in for their starters.

Fehoko may have his doubts about the timing, but the opener carried plenty of weight for Tagovailoa. It was meant to be his first regular-season game with Atlanta and a chance to start a new chapter against the same team he faced in his final start with Miami. Now, instead, he’ll have to wait for that fresh start.