FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Happy Thursday, Falcons fans. Welcome back to the mailbag, we've got some interesting topics on tap for today.

I don't want to waste time with a long preamble, but I will add that if you missed Tori McElhaney's mailbag on Tuesday, please be sure to check it out. There was a lot of great information in there, and some of it also pertains to today's questions.

And, as always, if you'd like to submit a future mailbag question, you may do so here.

Let's do this.

Millard W. from Florida

A thankless job is what you guys have, but fans are rightfully thinking their concerns are ignored by whoever gets to even see them. I try to catch all the interviews, but have not heard coaches answer why the Falcons don't run draws and screens, even occasional QB draws, to counter pressure. Or why Feleipe Franks is not used as a versatile offensive weapon, especially on short-yardage plays. Or why Penix rarely moves around in the pocket and almost never runs forward, when pressured, only backward. Why they call it a run-first offense when the OC calls so many passes, like the first several plays of the second half, when we were not behind? I don't blame you, but the media does not ask the questions we ask, and the coaches really don't answer them. So, why have a mailbag?

There's a lot in here, Millard, but I appreciate you sharing it all with us. I'll start with the last question — we have a mailbag because we do want to hear from all of you and try our best to steer our coverage and press conference questions in ways that align with what fans want to know.

As for how those questions are posed, they may not sound exactly like you've phrased them above, but they do cover topics that we have pretty frequently discussed with the coaching staff. I don't think you'll see the Falcons run too many QB draws with Penix, because you'd like to keep him from taking any big hits up the middle, given his injury history. However, we did talk Monday with head coach Raheem Morris about his quarterback's athleticism, and he explained that they are urging Penix to lean into using his legs a little bit more.

"What we've done with him is tell him to be able to use his legs like he did a week before, prior, with the big, long scramble versus the Patriots," Morris said. "… You'd like to see those things happen more, and they can happen more often because he is so athletic and he has that in his body."

As for Feleipe Franks becoming an offensive weapon, while the Falcons have used him in some creative ways in the past, he's here to be a core special teamer. And I understand completely where your final point about run-pass balance is coming from, because I have wondered the same thing at times.

But the numbers don't really show the Falcons are all that pass-heavy. In fact, Next Gen Stats shows them calling pass plays 58.4% of the time, which is actually the ninth-lowest rate in the league — sandwiched between the Colts and Packers, who also have great running games. So the balance — in what is a pass-first league, which is important to remember — is actually pretty comparable with some of the NFL's most successful groups. But I'll be sure to ask Zac Robinson when I'm at his next press conference.

James C. from Atlanta

Why don't the Falcons use the most talented RB in the league like the Colts use Taylor, or the Ravens use Henry, or the Packers use Jacobs? Why can't they give him the ball 20-24 times carrying, and about 3-4 targets passing? Make the game simpler for Penix. This is way better than him dropping back 35 times a game. Why won't they ride Robinson?

Ah, speaking of the Colts and Packers — let's keep the discussion about the run game going. Through 10 weeks this season, the Falcons average 26.8 designed carries per game, which is near the middle of the pack but on the lower end. However, they are just fractions behind the Ravens (27.1 carries per game) and Colts (27.4).

It's also critical to note that teams have become more creative in how they get the ball to their backs. This isn't a completely new thing — Dirk Koetter talked all the time about short passes being similar to run plays — but the Falcons are leaning on their backs, Bijan Robinson, especially, in the passing game.

Atlanta has 60 pass attempts to its running backs this season, according to Next Gen Stats, which are the seventh-most in the league and ahead of all the teams you mentioned above. They have the second-most passing yards per game to running backs, behind only the 49ers and the insane season Christian McCaffrey is having as a receiver.

However, at this point, Robinson is averaging 15 carries and about five catches per game. If the Falcons want to increase that usage a little bit, I personally wouldn't be mad at it. There is some wisdom in keeping him fresh, but this is a critical time in the season and Atlanta should lean on its best players.

Of course, I do also think Tyler Allgeier is an excellent and underrated player who I like to compare to Michael Turner when he was behind LaDainian Tomlinson with the San Diego Chargers. Both players offer value, and Allgeier is especially good in the red zone. So there is a balance that the Falcons are trying to strike here.

@AtlasPryme on X/Twitter

With Penix looking dejected after the loss to the Colts, is that more of an indictment on himself for his regression in confidence or coaching? Because the play in his 3 starts last year are a glaring difference from his play in starts this season.

When I saw Penix's demeanor after the game, my heart went out to him. I can be especially hard on myself, too. In those moments when things don't go my way, particularly in a competitive environment, I generally get angry with myself and want to get right back onto the field or court to start correcting what I felt didn't go to plan.

That is what I saw when watching Penix at that press conference — someone who was displeased with losing a close game against a good team that they had opportunities to win. Now, the hope is that any frustration he may have felt is used to fuel his efforts in practice this week and in games moving forward. And that's where the coaching staff comes into play, to make sure they shape his mindset in the right way.

"He is extremely hard on himself," Morris said of Penix. "He is very high character, very accountable, almost to the point of fault at times. … I definitely had to talk to him about being that hard on himself in those moments, in those times, right? This league is full of adversity and you're going to deal with those adverse moments. I think it's up to us to be able to help him through those situations to let him know, like we have to make some of those plays for him as well, both as players and as coaches, to be able to alleviate some of the problems that he thinks he is having."

The first three games we saw from Penix were very encouraging, and they should not be discounted because he is still the same player. I think defenses just have a better idea of his limitations now that he's played 11 games, and he's continuing to learn how to adjust and develop.

Some of the things he's working through do take time for quarterbacks to polish up, and that's why it's still important to keep perspective. For all intents and purposes, this is still a rookie quarterback because there are no substitutes for real-game experience. I think what Penix showed at the podium was proof that he cares a lot about his play, and that gives me hope for his development.