GREEN BAY, Wis. — A tear slipped out of Michael Penix Jr.'s eye. He was in the cramped visitors' locker room deep in the tunnels of Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.

It was the Falcons' final preseason game. Penix had just been cleared to participate in 11-on-11 work a handful of days earlier. He wasn't yet ready to play at full capacity. After all, he'd only had a few days of practice as a full participant.

Still, as Penix went through pregame warmups on the field, the sticky Miami heat clinging to his body, frustration bloomed deep within him.

He wasn't ready yet. He didn't feel as though he was. And in that moment, surrounded by teammates, that frustration had reached a boiling point. Like a pot of water left on the stove, the frustration boiled over.

Perhaps no one would see the tears that flowed. Maybe Penix could keep them to himself. But his locker mate, a man who very rarely misses slight movements and adjustments on the field, noticed.

Jessie Bates III could see the emotion on Penix's face. It embedded itself in the veteran safety's own mind, too.

"Before that last preseason game, he was in that locker room crying because he wanted to be ready," Bates recalled. "I know how much it means to him."

Penix opened up at various points over the last couple of weeks about the end of his rehab and recovery. Though this was his third go-around with ACL surgery, the recovery took longer. Part of that was because no one wanted to rush Penix back — Penix didn't want that, either — but it was also because the surgery itself was different.

By the final week of the preseason, Penix knew he wasn't at 100% yet. That's why that tear fell from his eyes in that Miami locker room.

By Week 1, Penix knew the hurdles he had to clear. He needed to build some strength back up. He needed to work through the soreness that comes with spending more than 300 days away from the game and then getting hit again.

And he needed to feel comfortable, in both mind and body. Every day, he worked toward that comfort by being uncomfortable.

"He's the definition of resiliency," Drake London said.

Resiliency shows up in a myriad of ways.

For Penix, the way he defines it is no different.

Through every injury, Penix fought his way back.

After the tears shed in that cramped locker room, Penix went back to work.

And on Thursday Night Football, when Penix's first drive ended in an interception, the resiliency he'd shown time and time again didn't leave him. It strengthened him.

Strengthened to the tune of 256 passing yards. Fortified by a 101.4 quarterback rating. Shielded by the fact that he helped lead an offense to something that hadn't been done at Lambeau Field in over a decade: nearly 500 yards of total offense in a win that snapped the Packers' 13-year home-opener winning streak.

"After the pick," London said when asked about the moment he felt Penix settle in. "He's a gamer, so when that happened he was like, 'Well, it can't get no worse than this.' He just goes out there and plays. That's what he does."

Bijan Robinson concurred, noting that Penix's demeanor on the field Thursday night was one of comfort, in spite of the stakes, the bright lights and the implications.

"All he does is work hard. He wanted to get back out here when he felt comfortable and I respect that. … He felt comfortable, and that's how he looked," Robinson said. "He looked comfortable in his game and he was balling."

Penix's performance wasn't perfect, but it didn't have to be. No one — not even himself — asked or needed him to be Superman.

What the Falcons needed was someone with resilience.

It seems that with Penix, resilience comes in spades.