FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Underneath Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany, Michael Penix Jr. made his way to the postgame press conference room. Said press conference lasted two minutes. The Atlanta Falcons' starting quarterback was visibly downtrodden following the overtime loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

Towards the end of his press conference, he was asked point-blank if he was frustrated with himself. He nodded. The reporter then followed up with, "Why?"

"I gotta play better," Penix said.

What does that involve, another reporter asked.

"Everything," Penix said before rising and walking out of the room. "Everything."

Penix finished the game 12-of-28 through the air for 177 yards and one touchdown. He had a fumble in the early stages of the game. Most notably, Penix completed just five of his 16 pass attempts in the second half when the Falcons needed offensive production most.

What's more, the team's struggles on third down can be somewhat attributed to misses in the pass game. Over the course of their four-game slide, the Falcons have not converted a third down between 6 and 10 yards. They have had 18 such looks. This is oftentimes an obvious and notorious passing situation.

The young quarterback's performance became a hot topic of conversation for fans and film analysts alike in the aftermath of the loss. Fans, radio personalities and analysts alike described Penix's performance as a regression and sign of growing pains, with the quarterback struggling with accuracy, footwork, mechanics and managing pressure.

Asked specifically about his quarterback's development head coach Raheem Morris said Penix is developing well and the team "needs to execute better for Mike."

"Mike's gotta play better. He wants to play better. He's always going to be one of those guys who is very hard on himself," Morris said. "But he is a young man. He is a first-year quarterback, in his first year. And we need to play better for him and around him."

Morris is likely referring to issues in protection and dropped passes, both of which arose against the Colts at some point or another through four quarters of play, plus an overtime series that did not yield points.

"You never really want to blame anybody when it comes down to that," Morris said when asked about Penix's completion percentage. "Mike is going to be so hard and critical of himself that it's always going to be his fault, no matter what and where they were. But we have some things that we can clean up around him."

Morris clarified that when he says Penix is "doing well" it means he is "developing and doing the right things, he knows what he wants to do."

The Falcons — Morris added — need to execute better. That does include Penix as much as the whole offensive operation.

"I feel really great with Mike's command," Morris said. "We have to get everybody on the same page; everybody has to be the same way."