The Atlanta Falcons invested heavily in Michael Penix Jr.
They liked the left-handed quarterback so much that they drafted him No. 8 overall less than two months after signing Kirk Cousins to a nine-figure contract. It created an immediate QB controversy, but that showed just how much the Falcons believed in Penix.
He hasn’t validated it yet, and the end could be closer than anyone in Atlanta would’ve wanted.
Penix may come back soon to play after his 2025 season-ending knee injury, but it’s been an odd start to the year.
The third-year QB is being listed as a full participant at practice, but he’s not starting yet.
Instead, Cooper Rush and Jack Strand have struggled through the season’s first two losses.
“The Falcons’ quarterback situation is a mess,” The Athletic’s Michael Silver wrote on Monday. “Fill-in starter Cooper Rush was a disaster against the Panthers, beginning with a first-play fumble and degenerating from there. Undrafted Jack Strand, who relieved Rush in the third quarter, threw a pick-six to Devin Lloyd on his first pass. Veteran Tua Tagovailoa, signed in March as the presumptive starter, has been sidelined with an oblique injury suffered three days before the season opener.”
Penix has to be the answer, but he might not be.
Michael Penix Jr. Warning
At this point, it seems like Penix himself is the reason he isn’t playing.
“This may turn out to be a lost season, but either way, the Falcons and their fans would love to see third-year quarterback Michael Penix Jr. — the eighth pick of the 2024 draft — back in the lineup, if only to get a better sense of whether he can be the long-term answer,” Silver writes. “Penix, who tore his ACL in a game against the Panthers last November, was medically cleared to return before Week 1, but he has said he is not yet comfortable returning to the field.”
Penix said recently he had a couple physical things he was still working through. That contrasted with what he said in the summer, when he said his comeback wasn’t going to be about his knee being healed.
At this point, no one is sure what to make of it.
Moving On?
The only sure thing is that Penix’s clock is ticking.
“The hope is that Penix will start Thursday night’s game against the Packers in Green Bay,” Silver writes. “They’re not yet questioning Penix’s toughness inside the Falcons’ organization, but if circumstances delay his return much longer, they likely will be. If that happens, you’ll pretty much be able to conclude that the Falcons’ 2027 starter currently plays on Saturdays.”
This could be a great draft for quarterbacks, led by big names like Arch Manning, Dante Moore, Trinidad Chambliss and Darian Mensah. There’s a lot of talent up and down the 2027 NFL Draft board, too.
If Penix doesn’t come back soon, or if he returns and struggles, the Falcons very well may end up with the kind of record that puts them in position to draft a quarterback. And at this point, they may do just that.
Falcons’ Michael Penix Jr. on Verge of Being Too Far Gone