FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons don't yet have a starting quarterback named for their home opener against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, and all four passers on the roster are under consideration for the role.
That includes Michael Penix Jr., the No. 8 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, who entered last season as the team's starting quarterback before sustaining a knee injury in Week 11 against these very same Panthers. Since undergoing surgery to repair his partially torn ACL, Penix has been on the road to recovery.
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Before Atlanta's season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Penix told reporters that he was close but not quite 100%. Speaking with the media on Wednesday, Penix provided an update amidst the questions about who would be the Falcons' starter on Sunday.
"I'm close. I'm close," Penix said Wednesday. "I know I've been saying that, but there's just a couple of technical things that I want to hit, some goals that I have that I want to achieve before I do stuff out on that field. But I do feel really good, and we're taking strides each and every day."
Penix clarified shortly after that he's "closer" than he was last week when he gave his initial update.
Whether or not he's close enough to suit up on Sunday remains to be seen. During his press conference, Cooper Rush, who started for Atlanta in Week 1, said he and Penix were splitting reps with the first-year offense.
Rush, who signed with the Falcons on the first day of training camp, is also in contention to earn his second straight start for Atlanta. Against the Steelers, Rush completed 12 of his 22 pass attempts for 143 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.
That Penix began working with the first-team offense during practice should be taken as a positive sign in his recovery. But when he'll be fully ready to go remains to be seen.
"Just some goals I want to hit," Penix said. "I'm going to keep those to myself and the training staff, but I'm close. Like I said, I'm close. I'm working extremely hard. I want to be out there. I'm dying to be out there. But at the same time, I've got to think about how I feel and think about things that I need to work on to make sure, you know, I hit before I go out there onto that football field."
Following up on that answer, Penix was asked if those goals were more physical or mental.
"I would say more physical goals," Penix said. "As far as mental, it ain't even mental. Mentally, I want to go play. But I'm not going to go out there if I don't feel where I need to be physically."
Speaking before practice on Wednesday, head coach Kevin Stefanski said that all parties involved—coaches, medical staff and Penix, himself—were all in agreement with their plan moving forward regarding the third-year quarterback.
"I think all of us on the coaching staff, on the medical staff, all of our players—Mike in this case—want to always do what's best for our players," he said. "And I feel really, really confident in the plan, going back to when I first got here and how Mike was working off the field and working in the training room—And I think what you've seen is a progression of all that."
Penix explained further details about his surgery that helped clarify his recovery timeline compared to others in the league who injured their ACL last season, such as Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who started in Week 1 after a season-ending knee injury in Week 15.
Specifically, since this is the third procedure Penix has undergone to repair an ACL—his previous two happened in college—the graft had to be done differently.
"Not all injuries are the same," Penix said. "And just because [Mahomes] had ACL surgery, he didn't get the same procedure as me. He had his patellar tendons; he was able to use those grafts. I had to use a quad graft because I used both of my patellar tendon grafts. I also got an operation on my lateral side. I got more done to my knee than he got. So, if you look at me after my first ACL surgery in 2018, I was back in six months, but this is my third one. I don't have the same tendons and stuff to use for this ACL graft. Also, I added that lateral LET graft that I got. So, it's more than, 'Oh, Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL and he's playing, why isn't Mike?' It's two totally different injuries."
Instead of using tissue from his patellar tendon, Penix's surgeons used a portion of his quadriceps to make the repair. During training camp, Penix emphasized that he has been healing well and that his doctor told him he had "an amazing ACL."
But as for when Penix will put his repaired ACL to the test in a live NFL game remains to be seen. Throughout their first offseason working together, both head coach and quarterback have maintained that Penix's focus is on getting fully healthy. He has passed multiple checkpoints in that recovery, with seemingly only one final hurdle left to clear.
Whether that happens as early as Week 2 or at a future point in the season is unknown, but those involved continue to say Penix is close.
"I'm working each and every day," Penix said. "And, right now, I've got to be where my feet are. Today I felt good in practice. I want to keep making strides, keep feeling better each and every day. And that's what it's about. And once my knee feels where I need it to be, I'm going to be ready to play. Like I said, there's no number on it. No, Week 3, Week 4. Whenever my knee feels good, I'm going to be out there."
Take a look at our best shots from week two practice ahead of the Sunday matchup against the Carolina Panthers, presented by Gatorade.
