Michael Pennis Jr. was supposed to be the star of the Atlanta Falcons preseason, then Kirk Cousins was supposed to take over the regular season.
Apparently Penix doesn’t need much preseason practice.
It was a bit of a surprise when Penix didn’t start in Saturday’s preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens, where Taylor Heinicke started. Falcons coach Raheem Morris explained that Penix performed well enough last week that he could miss the team’s final two preseason games.
“Mike showed enough last week that we don’t need to use him again in the preseason,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said after the game, via the team’s official website’s Terin Whack.
The thought process behind that is hard to understand. If the Falcons do well this season, Penix won’t play significant minutes. The No. 8 pick in the NFL Draft was ultimately selected to replace Cousins, but there’s no doubt Cousins will be their preferred starter for the next season or two and will retain that position if he plays well. The Falcons will want to keep Penix in the game as much as possible.
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Pennis Jr. (9) will not play any more in the preseason this season, his coach said. (AP Photo/Lynn Sladke)
Penix certainly looked good last week, completing 9 of 17 passes for 104 yards. He played about a quarter and a half, and apparently that’s all he’ll play, but… well, we don’t know. When Cousins was healthy through the 2022 season with the Minnesota Vikings, he threw 643 passes and backup Nick Mullens threw 25. It’s reasonable to assume something similar will happen for the Falcons this season, unless Cousins gets injured.
It seemed logical for the Falcons to use Penix heavily during the preseason. The decision to draft Penix just a month after signing Cousins was unconventional, and the decision to bench Penix for most of the preseason was a bit counterintuitive, but that appears to have been the decision. It may be a while before we see Penix play significant minutes again.
