The Atlanta Falcons’ preseason was supposed to be all about Michael Penix Jr. Then Kirk Cousins would take over for the regular season.
Apparently, Penix doesn’t really need the preseason reps.
It was a bit of a surprise that Penix didn’t start Saturday’s preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens. Taylor Heinicke started. Falcons coach Raheem Morris said Penix did enough last week to be benched for the final two preseason games.
“Mike showed us enough last week that we don’t need to play him again in the preseason,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said after the game. via Terrin Waack from the team website.
The reasoning behind this is hard to follow. If all goes well for the Falcons this season, Penix won’t play any meaningful snaps. The eighth overall pick in the NFL Draft was selected to potentially replace Cousins, but there’s no doubt that for the next season or two, Cousins will be their preferred starter and will keep his job if he plays well. You’d think the Falcons would want to get game reps from Penix when they can.
Last week, Penix had a good showing, completing 9 of 17 passes for 104 yards. He played about a quarter and a half, and apparently that’s all he’ll play until… well, we don’t know. When Cousins was healthy during the 2022 season for the Minnesota Vikings, he threw 643 passes and his backup Nick Mullens threw 25. It’s reasonable to think something like that will happen with the Falcons this season as long as Cousins doesn’t get hurt.
It seemed logical for the Falcons to play Penix extensively in the preseason. The decision to draft Penix a little over a month after signing Cousins was unconventional, and the decision to bench Penix for most of the preseason was also a bit counterintuitive. But that’s apparently the decision. It could be a long time before we see Penix play in any meaningful way again.
Discover more from The Times Of Update
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.