Michael Penix Jr. era begins in Atlanta: ‘I have to produce’

FLOWER BRANCH, Ga. — Michael Penix Jr. hasn’t even been in Atlanta for 48 hours. He has not yet found accommodation. He has not identified the best places to fish. He didn’t brave Atlanta’s apocalyptic traffic. He knows that no matter what the depth chart says, he meets all the expectations that come with being a first-round pick.

“I can’t sit here and be starstruck anymore,” Penix said Friday afternoon, shortly after his first practice as a Falcon. “I have to produce.”

Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris has a mandate for a rookie to give his all from the very first practice. “Cat in the hat,” he calls them, a term he picked up from Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin when both were Tampa Bay assistants under Jon Gruden in the early 2000s. The Hatted Cat runs faster than everyone, even when he doesn’t need to… and therefore leaves nothing in reserve.

In his rookie training camp debut Friday, Penix wasn’t the cat in the hat; that honor likely belonged to undrafted free agent quarterback John Paddock. But over the course of several cone drills and short runs, Penix looked calm, secure and deeply comfortable in the pocket.

“I just have to find the open guy and throw it to him,” Penix smiled after practice. “It’s not that hard.”

This stability is good news, because the rest of the Falcons universe, from ownership to front office to coaches to fans, is in a nervous situation, far on a very skinny limb.

The Falcons enter the 2024 season under perhaps the most intense – and self-inflicted – pressure in the entire league. Just weeks after signing a massive $180 million contract with free agent Kirk Cousins, . The Falcons thus created a quarterback controversy where none existed, before Cousins ​​even put on a helmet.

The team welcomed Cousins ​​as a cornerstone of the franchise, but it’s clear now that the Falcons did so with eyes wide open. Cousins ​​is just a few months removed from a torn Achilles, which he himself admitted is not completely healed. He’s closer to 40 than 30. While he can put up fantastic numbers in the regular season, his playoff record is a dismal 1-3. Cousins ​​is good enough to take Atlanta to the playoffs; the question he will face is whether he is good enough to take them very far.

Penix therefore serves as both a long-term investment and short-term protection in case of emergency. It’s an expensive insurance policy, an overall gamble that potentially won’t start producing results until the 2026 season, if at all. This has the makings of an uncomfortable few years in Atlanta – any hint of struggle for Cousins, any brilliance from Penix and calls for change will come. Atlanta has missed the playoffs for six years — only Denver and the Jets have longer playoff droughts — and fans aren’t inclined to give the Falcons the benefit of the doubt.

“There were many reasons to say, ‘What are you doing?’ The biggest problem is you didn’t help this year’s team,” said longtime local sports radio host Chris Dimino, who has spent the past two weeks fielding calls from perplexed and furious fans. of the Falcons. “You could have had any defender on the board. … If they don’t win a playoff game because they couldn’t get the quarterback to the ground, a cornerback gets burned, the story is going to be, maybe you would have won that playoff game if you hadn’t picked the guy who was sitting on the bench watching.

Penix, for his part, tried Friday to quell any hint of division between himself and Cousins, even though both find themselves in a delicate situation that neither expected. “We’re on the same team,” Penix said. “I’m very fortunate to be able to be here, in this position, right now, with a veteran in front of me, learning from him. I go about my business every day, finding ways to improve and get to where he is.”

Cousins’ signing brought a touch of hope to fans; if he had worn an Atlanta uniform last year, the Falcons likely would have made the playoffs, and the NFC South hasn’t improved noticeably since then. Reasonably consistent play from Cousins ​​and Atlanta should be in the playoffs. Meanwhile, Penix has a rare opportunity in the NFL: the chance to grow at a measured pace, unpressured by the need to start and prove himself instantly.

The Michael Penix Jr. era in Atlanta could culminate with a Super Bowl, or it could cost many people their jobs. Either way, it started in earnest on Friday, and no one knows where it goes from here.