Ahead of their second exhibition game, the Falcons (0-1) look to rectify their mistakes made versus the Dolphins when they play the Ravens (0-1) at noon Saturday.
The game will feature Michael Penix Jr., the Falcons’ rookie quarterback out of Washington, primarily under center again. Penix talked about his mindset this week as he has prepared for Baltimore.
“I just take it day-by-day and continue to find ways to get better,” Penix said. “No matter how I felt or how anybody else felt about the game last week, I got to be better for the team each and every weekend.”
He also said how crucial it has been to gain a rhythm with each receiver no matter where they stand on the depth chart.
“We do a lot of routes with everyone everyday, and we get a lot of reps in team periods that we take advantage of,” Penix said, emphasizing the importance of practice. “The biggest thing is making sure to take advantage of every rep and not taking any reps off.”
Penix finished 9-for-16 passing and threw for 104 yards in his NFL debut in Miami on Friday. The eighth overall NFL draft pick and Heisman Trophy runner-up last season, Penix said that he’s been most thankful to focus solely on football and not the college pressures in his adjustment from college to the NFL.
With the regular season around the corner, Penix said that the team’s culture is helping him as he tries to get to where he wants to be.
“I feel like the culture and the way that we go about our business is contagious,” Penix said. “You see guys doing catching drills before and after practice and I feel like everybody across positions builds off of that, especially seeing the veterans like Kirk lead the way.”
Falcons coach Raheem Morris said what he’s enjoyed seeing from Penix in practice this week.
“It was all competitive having him play with various targets and eventually into situational football,” Morris said. “Him having to go through the whole process of what it feels like to get in and out of the huddle faster and deal with the timing of the officials help his development which is coming along great.”
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