Michael Penix Jr doesn’t need preseason action, says his job is to be ready Week 1

It is a topic that won’t go away until the Atlanta Falcons find success again, but Michael Penix Jr. takes no issue with his coach’s decision to sit him out of the preseason.

Last Friday, Raheem Morris got out of his comfort zone and played many key contributors on the defensive side of the ball. You would think with all the lamenting by fans and analysts that Morris hasn’t changed his approach at all, but that’s because he hasn’t met their specific criteria for change. It’s time to get over it.

Penix has his coach’s back. The new signal caller made a great point that in college, they don’t have exhibition games; you have to be ready to go from the start, and that’s a good mentality to carry over, one that his head coach surely appreciates. Penix also noted that he’s been playing football since he was 5, and he is well accustomed to taking hits. He doesn’t need the preseason for that—especially when he’s throwing haymakers in practice.

In 2024, Kirk Cousins added fuel to the fire by stating his desire for preseason reps and how that desire “fell on deaf ears“. Cousins would sprinkle in a dash of support for the decision, but the damage had been done, and the team’s Week 1 performance was used as evidence that he should’ve played, when in reality, it showed why he didn’t.

Regardless of whatever you choose to believe about the health of 2024 Kirk Cousins, by all accounts, he is a healthier and more mobile version of the player he was in 2024. The Falcons were never going to risk playing someone nine months removed from a torn Achilles in the preseason, and in the grand scheme of things, they were right. Zac Robinson was the primary culprit for the Week 1 disaster, and Cousins got healthier as the season rolled on and looked better every week until that hit in the Saints game. It is beyond hyperbolic to imply that their approach to preseason had any lingering effects on their ability to succeed.

So why does this discussion still linger? When the team hasn’t had a winning record in nearly a decade, no stone is left unturned. A winning season is the only thing that will put this debate to rest.