Falcons’ Michael Penix Jr. ‘looked good’ in first week of team drills

FLOWERY BRANCH — Michael Penix Jr. hit his back foot, fired over the middle and hit tight end Kyle Pitts for a sizable gain during the Falcons’ training camp practice Monday. Then, he looked at offensive coordinator Tommy Rees with a message.

“Good,” they told each other.

Not about the throw, but about what happened in between Penix releasing the ball and Pitts catching it. Outside linebacker Samson Ebukam pushed back right guard Chris Lindstrom, who moved enough to lightly brush Penix’s left foot.

It was the first time Penix, making his debut appearance in an 11-on-11 practice period Monday, felt live contact to his left leg since tearing his ACL last November. Rees joked he wishes Penix would’ve fallen, but the hit, while certainly lacking force, nevertheless checked an important box in Penix’s recovery process.

“It’s great,” Penix said Wednesday. “Obviously, we don’t want that. They preach not to let the quarterbacks get hit, but it’s football. Those things happen, accidents happen, but it’s good. I feel good, I feel confident. I completed a pass, thank God, so we’re all good.”

Penix’s first week back to full team participation after spending the offseason living in 7-on-7 centered largely around patience and wetting his feet.

He went 4-for-8 passing Monday, missing his first three throws — including two that landed at his receivers’ feet — before finishing with completions on four of his final five attempts. Penix followed with a 5-for-12 passing effort Tuesday and 10-for-13 passing Wednesday, including going 7-of-9 in 11-on-11 and 3-of-5 in 7-on-7.

Penix tossed four touchdown passes Wednesday, two apiece in 11-on-11 and 7-on-7. He layered one to tight end Austin Hooper, who made a difficult grab on a pinpoint pass over the top of two Falcons defenders. Penix led a two-minute drive Wednesday that ended without points, but in large part because receiver Drake London kept running after a play ended and the offense couldn’t stop the clock in time.

The 26-year-old Penix alternated first-team snaps with Tua Tagovailoa throughout the week, and coach Kevin Stefanski still hasn’t named his Week 1 starter. Tagovailoa took more reps with the first unit on Wednesday, in part because the Falcons ran their offense against a scout-team defense in advance of Friday night’s preseason game against the Dolphins.

There was a gradual acclimation for Penix, who commanded an 11-man huddle and faced a pass rush for the first time since November. Stefanski said he felt Penix handled it well.

“I thought he looked good,” Stefanski said Wednesday. “He moved around well. He’s put a lot of work into this. I think you see that in his getting away from center, making throws, etc.”

Penix initially expected to be cleared for 11-on-11 participation by the beginning of training camp, but he instead had to wait an additional three weeks for an independent doctor to sign off on his return.

This week, and his chance to participate in team drills, was long-awaited and much-celebrated.

“Just for the human, as hard as he’s worked to get back, dealing with a knee injury and coming back again — there’s a lot of joy, personally, for him to be out there on the field,” Rees said. “I think his teammates had a lot of joy for him. And he did a nice job.

“The thing with Mike is he’s been doing a lot, just hasn’t done the full-speed work yet. Mentally, he’s been sharp, he’s been in walk-throughs.”

The Falcons believe there’s an underrated positive to Penix’s absence. He had the chance to take a back seat and watch the first 27 offseason practices — 10 in OTAs, two in mandatory minicamp and 15 in training camp — from a different vantage point, at least during team drills.

Rees, who played quarterback at Notre Dame, said the experience “helps you tremendously.” Now, the Falcons want to see Penix translate the knowledge gleaned from meetings, walk-throughs and watching others into on-field production.

“We’re going to continue to work with him, but I could not be more pleased with Mike (and) the work he’s put in, where he’s at mentally,” Rees said. “I know he’s excited to be out there.”

Penix, who previously said he needed to clear a mental hurdle associated with taking a hit and trusting his knee, continues to gain confidence — and perhaps a bit of delusion. Before the Falcons’ practice Wednesday, Penix approached star running back Bijan Robinson with a message.

“He told me this morning that he’d beat me in a race,” Robinson said. “I’m like, ‘Mike, nah bro.’ But it’s just cool to see his confidence up.”

Penix won’t play in the Falcons’ preseason finale — he feels it would be “too soon” to play in a game with only three live practices under his belt.

The Falcons are in wait-and-see mode with Penix, who’s adopted a day-to-day mindset. His goal from the onset of his rehab process was to be ready for Week 1, and he believes he’s on the right track.

Whether that means he leads the Falcons’ offense out of the huddle Sept. 13 against the Pittsburgh Steelers remains to be seen, but Stefanski didn’t rule it out.

“This was an important week for Mike,” he said. “First time out there with people around you and the offensive line, the defensive line. I think going through a drill where you got to move up in the pocket or get chased out of the pocket. So, I thought a really good first step for Mike in that regard.