The Atlanta Falcons were hoping to find their franchise star when they drafted Michael Penix Jr. in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. But with Kirk Cousins also on the roster, the team decided to take a patient approach with their incoming rookie.
Atlanta gave him the starting job near the end of his first year. Unfortunately, a partially torn ACL derailed his campaign. Now, as he tries to assume command once again, his mindset is clear during the recovery process.
Michael Penix Jr. Keeping the Focus on His Injury
A major knock against Penix as he came into the league was a decorated injury history. But a clean slate at Washington gave the Falcons hope that the worst was behind him. Unfortunately, the 2025 season reopened the door to those worries.
After a bone bruise in his left knee caused him to miss a game in Week 8, the partially torn ACL ended his season altogether. With a long recovery time ahead of him, Atlanta went through a plethora of changes this offseason.
Chief among those was a head coaching change, as they replaced Raheem Morris with Kevin Stefanski. However, they also signed Tua Tagovailoa as a free agent as a potential QB1 option under the new system, complicating matters for Penix, who is still recovering from his injury.
During an appearance on the “4th & 1 Show with Cam Newton,” he explained his mentality as the season draws closer.
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“I want to start the first game of the season. But at the end of the day, it’s about how I feel. So it’s not really a time frame on it.”
Instead, he believes it’s still a process. “It is some small growing pains that I go through that I gotta make sure I’m at 100%, to where it’s like when I get out there, I don’t wanna be thinking it. Cause a lot of it is mental.”
Starting his collegiate career at Indiana, he suffered a torn ACL during his freshman season, a sternoclavicular joint injury in his sophomore season, and a second ACL tear in his junior year. That wretched luck continued during his senior year, as a separated AC joint ended his season early.
With the Huskies, though, he turned his fortunes around. Over his two years at the program, he was completely healthy and led them to the 2024 College Football Playoffs National Championship game, where they lost to Michigan.
Even with that experience, the number 26-ranked player on PFN’s QB Impact Metrics confessed, “Physically? I got a good ACL. The doctors did what they got to do. I can go out there and do anything. But mentally? You hesitate, and it’s like, do I trust it?”
It remains to be seen what the exact timeframe is for Penix to come back to the lineup. For the time being, Tagovailoa might be an adequate replacement in his stead, but when he returns, the spotlight is going to be on Penix to prove his credentials.
