Michael Penix Jr.: Falcons’ offense ‘should be the best’ in the NFL
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
FLOWERY BRANCH — Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. finished his first day of training camp as the team’s starting quarterback Thursday.
“Most of it doesn’t feel too different,” Penix said. “The only difference is my title. I still have the same mindset. Come in here and do whatever I can to help this team win football games. That’s what it always going to be.”
Penix took over for Kirk Cousins with three games to play last season. He was impressive enough to be declared the starting quarterback.
With running back Bijan Robinson, wide receivers Drake London, Darnell Mooney and Ray-Ray McCloud, and tight end Kyle Pitts at his disposal, Penix believes the offense can be prolific.
“Potentially, we should be the best in the (NFL),” Penix said. “With the guys that we’ve got around us. We’ve got a great offensive line as well. Those guys work extremely hard in the trenches. … We should be unstoppable. That’s our goal. We want to be No. 1 in all categories on the offensive side of the ball.”
The offense finished in the top half of the league in the four key categories with 369.8 yards per game (sixth), 130.5 rushing yards per game (10th), 239.5 passing per game (fifth) and 22.9 points per game (13th).
Penix wants offensive coordinator Zac Robinson to aggressively call the offense this season.
“Just call it,” Penix said. “It doesn’t matter what it is. Don’t hold back on anything. You don’t need to hold back. We are out here to win each and every week.”
The Falcons’ first practice went well. Penix noted how many times he got the ball to Pitts.
“It went great,” Penix said. “Just seeing the guys back out there, competing at a high level. It’s always fun to be out there doing what we love each and every day. It’s been good so far.”
Penix is working on the leadership part of his job after watching Cousins for most of last season. Also, he consulted with Falcons great Matt Ryan over the offseason.
“It’s just the chemistry,” Penix said. “You have to know your guys not just on the field, but off the field. That builds trust.”
Penix has made it a point to get to know the first-team players since he didn’t practice with them much last season.
“Not everybody is going to take leadership the same way,” Penix said. “Just trying to figure out those guys and see how they react in certain situations. That’s something that comes from off-the-field stuff. Now, I can rip you because you know it’s all coming out of love. Just doing that, and it’s been great.”
Penix is not a big rah-rah leader.
“I will always have that mindset to come in here and make sure that I lead and be an example,” Penix said. “Be somebody that the team can look to as a leader. Somebody that the team knows that whenever I step out on the field, they know I’m going to give them my all each and every day.”
Penix believes that his leadership can be sustained over the course of a season.
“I want to continue to keep doing better,” Penix said. “Consistency, that’s the biggest thing. Anybody can do it on the first day. But when it gets down the stretch, Week 17, Week 18. Are you still doing it?”
In addition to Pitts, Penix knows that running back Bijan Robinson will make his job easier.
“He’s real important,” Penix said. “Man, he helps everything. He opens up the pass game so much because you’ve got to respect him in the run game. The things that he can do with the ball in his hands is insane. We want to make sure that we get the ball in his hands as much as possible.
“If that’s the run game, pass game or whatever, we want to get the ball to (No.) 7. He’s got to touch the ball a lot in each and every game.”
Robinson didn’t disappoint on the first day of practice. He pulled away from linebacker JD Bertrand and got in the secondary and put a spin move on cornerback Natrone Brooks.
“When he’s got that ball in his hands, he makes plays,” Penix said. “You (saw) it out here today. Once he gets that ball, you never know what’s going to happen, but it’s always going to be good.”
Robinson had 365 touches last season, but don’t mention load management to Penix.
“We have to give him the rock,” Penix said. “It’s simple as that. It doesn’t matter how we do it. Somehow, some way he’s got to get the ball because he’s going to help us win football games.”
About the Author
Honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his "long and distinguished reporting in the field of pro football," D. Orlando Ledbetter, Esq. has covered the NFL 28 seasons. A graduate of Howard University, he's a winner of Georgia Sportswriter of the Year and three Associated Press Sports Editor awards.
