Falcons have ‘no doubt’ in Michael Penix Jr.’s bounceback. His poise is why.
MADRID — Michael Penix Jr. stewed on the worst game of his NFL career for a plane ride home Sunday evening, that night’s sleep and a Monday afternoon film session. Then, the Falcons’ starting quarterback flushed it and moved on.
“It was hard to watch it, but at the same time, that’s what comes with it,” Penix said Thursday. “You still got to look at it, even though games like that you don’t really want to watch it, but you got to correct some things that need to be corrected.
“So, spent that next day doing our correcting and then after that, it was, ‘We’re moving onto Cincy.’”
Penix threw four interceptions, a number he’s confident he’s never hit at any level, in the Falcons’ 16-0 loss to the Buccaneers. There were a lot of rain, a lot of wind and a lot of decisions Penix wanted back.
But he’ll leave the frustration and emotions of a soggy, spoiled Tampa homecoming in the past. The Falcons have seen it this week. Not that it was ever in doubt — Penix’s calm demeanor and consistent poise is the driving force behind Atlanta’s belief in him returning to form.
“He’s super even-keeled,” receiver Jahan Dotson said. “I have no doubt in my mind that he’ll bounce back. That’s just the kind of guy he is. That’s the way he goes about his business.”
Every analysis of Penix’s performance against the Buccaneers comes with an asterisk. “I can’t imagine being a quarterback and trying to throw a pass in the rain like that,” Dotson said. Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield doesn’t have to imagine it; he threw only three passes and completed none. Penix threw 24 and completed eight.
But after acknowledging the weather aspect, all parties — Penix, coach Kevin Stefanski and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees — note the Buccaneers played in the same conditions. The result, and the means behind it, are what they are.
Now comes the chance for redemption.
“There ain’t nothing you can do — you can’t dwell on it,” receiver Drake London said. “So, he goes out there and he wipes a clean slate and gets back to it.”
As he sat on the dais in the media room at Ciudad Real Madrid, the club’s practice facility, Penix marveled at the size of the setting, the various microphones and the speaker system accompanying it. His face lit up.
He’s relishing the experience — and opportunity — that awaits the Falcons (3-5) at 9:30 a.m. EST on Sunday against the Bengals (5-2) at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid.
And given his past, which is littered with examples of following subpar performances with brilliant bouncebacks, Penix is hoping to make one of the nation’s best soccer stadiums into the canvas for his latest masterpiece.
“It’s just want-to,” he said. “I want to be great. I want to win football games for this team, and whenever you have a game like last week, you kind of point the finger at yourself. For me, I never want it to be all on me for some of the things that happened. So, I always want to be the best version of myself for this team.
“So whenever I do have those bad games, I kind of go back and reflect on the things that I’ve done and just try to find ways to be better throughout the week. Even if I felt like I had a great practice last week, ‘How can I make this week’s practice better?’ Things like that, so that I can come out and show this team that I’m willing to do whatever it takes to help them win.”
The Falcons’ coaching staff drilled home the idea of the NFL being a week-to-week league. Penix is a prime example.
In Week 8, he was the NFC Offensive Player of the Week after throwing three touchdown passes to beat the previously undefeated 49ers. In Week 9, he had the worst completion percentage and passer rating, along with the fewest passing yards, of any of his first 18 starts.
There should be little concern about a repeat of Penix’s four-interception day. He went 144 consecutive passes without a giveaway, then threw four in the span of 13 attempts against the Buccaneers. It was, by and large, a weather-induced anomaly that snowballed in a hurry.
Penix sets the standard at perfection, and when he falls short after, say, missing a throw, he gets frustrated. He said it “kind of sucked” throwing four interceptions in Raymond James Stadium, which is less than an hour from where he grew up in Dade City, Florida.
But those experiences, Penix said, make him “want to go harder the next time” he’s on the field. His moment has arrived, but he refuses to make any of this — the struggles, the bounceback, the trans-Atlantic flight to Madrid and the chance to play in the Bernabéu — any bigger than it is.
It links back to his even-keeled nature, something the Falcons’ offense often rallies behind, but is leaning on it ever stronger this week.
“It takes a special person to be a quarterback, and you kind of have to have that calm demeanor,” London said. “There’s other ones that can get away with other (methods), but he has a calm demeanor about him and it helps us a ton throughout the games, whether we’re up big or we’re down big or we had to battle out the trenches to get somewhere.
“So, he stays poised the whole time, and that’s what we love about him.”
Poise isn’t uncommon at the quarterback position. It’s the extent of Penix’s that makes his particularly relevant. Rees previously called it “rare.” Right guard Matthew Bergeron said he respects Penix because his emotions are “always at zero” and he’s always the same no matter the scenario.
And don’t think the Madrid experience will shake that. When he was asked if there’s anything he’s excited to experience in Spain, Penix responded, “Nah, I just want to play football.” It’s a business trip, he says, and the reason he’s in Madrid is to win a football game.
New surroundings, better weather and a different opponent may be factors in whether Penix rebounds this week, but nothing carries more gravity than his temperament. And after a week, and homecoming, to forget, he certainly didn’t lose himself.
He’s already proved that to his teammates this week in practice.
“Regular ol’ MP, man,” London said.