FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. - Michael Penix Jr. learned Tuesday night that he would be making his first NFL start on Sunday. The crash course started Wednesday.
Atlanta (7-7) didn't have an official practice on Wednesday, though. The Falcons had decided to hold only a walkthrough before the decision to switch to Penix was made and did not change the schedule after changing their quarterback plans.
In some ways, that was more valuable for Penix than a full practice, offensive coordinator Zac Robinson said. Atlanta walked through 72 plays in their indoor facility, while typical Wednesday practice would only include "16 or so" live repetitions, Robinson said. In traditional walk-throughs, Atlanta's quarterbacks don't throw the ball, but Penix threw all 72 plays Wednesday to start building a rapport with his wide receivers.
"We tried to simulate as best we could. Being able to get 72 reps of him hearing the play call, getting in and out of the huddle, throwing to the spots was good," Robinson said. "Obviously, guys weren't moving full speed, but it was still a lot of good work."
The Falcons held a full practice Thursday and have another scheduled Friday, and Penix began planning Wednesday to get more practice with the wide receivers after practices.
"They said they're ready to get those reps and eve if we have to do it after practice to get more then they're willing to and that's the biggest thing," the quarterback said. "Just got make sure I find time to get with those guys."
Robinson doesn't think it will take long for Penix and starting wide receivers Drake London, Darnell Mooney and Ray-Ray McCloud to get comfortable with each other, he said.
"All of our skill guys, and Mike, they've got such a great natural feel for the game that of course there's going to be things here and there that they're just going to continue to get better at, but we feel good about the overall skill guys, their feel for the game, Mike's feel for the game, and anticipate that those guys will show up in a big way on Sunday," the coach said.
Until this week, Penix had taken only scout team reps in Atlanta's in-season practices, running the opponent's offense, but Robinson believes he'll be more ready than a rookie starting early in the season simply because he's familiar with the team's weekly preparation routines.
"The game reps are valuable, obviously, but we feel great about where he's at up to this point and everything he's done to get to this point," Robinson said.
The Falcons "absolutely" will be able to run their entire playbook, Robinson said. Initially, Atlanta believed in its plan to eventually replace Kirk Cousins with Penix because the quarterbacks play the position similarly. While Falcons coaches have noted that Penix will bring more mobility to the position, he is not a running quarterback. In his final year at Washington, when he played 15 games and threw 555 passes, he rushed for 8 yards.
"What we believe in as a coaching staff is if a quarterback can operate from the pocket, and they can progress, and they have anticipation, then they have all those skills that it takes to be a successful quarterback," Robinson said. "Mike demonstrated those things coming out of Washington. He's got great instincts, great feel for the pocket, for bodies around him, can click through progressions."
Heading into Sunday's game, the Giants (2-12) are 25th in EPA per dropback allowed (minus-.12) this season, according to TruMedia.
Lost in the conversation about the new quarterback is the fact the Falcons also are going to have a new place kicker Sunday. Atlanta placed Younghoe Koo on the injured reserve list Wednesday. Koo dealt with a hip injury earlier in the season, and head coach Raheem Morris said Tuesday that the kicker wasn't healthy during Monday night's 15-9 win over the Raiders in Las Vegas.
"It's one of those conversations where it was like, 'OK, I got to get it checked out one more time and go from there,'" special teams coordinator Marquice Williams said. "We'll see what happens as we go on, but I pray for a speedy recovery for him."
After Koo missed a 42-yard field goal against the Raiders, he immediately turned and jogged quickly toward the far end of the Falcons sideline, where he flipped his helmet into the kicking net. Koo's 73.5 percent success rate ranks 31st in the league this year among kickers with at least 10 attempts. Twice on Monday, Morris turned down the opportunity to attempt field goals between 50 and 55 yards, a range from which Koo is 6-for-9 this year.
Koo is on the third year of a five-year $24.25 million contract, but kicker contracts aren't terribly binding in the NFL. Atlanta would accrue just $3.75 million in dead money by releasing Koo after the season. Morris has been steadfast in his public support of the kicker, who has been in Atlanta since 2019 and at one point last year had the highest success rate on field goals in league history.
Atlanta signed Riley Patterson off the Browns practice squad to replace Koo. This season, Patterson has kicked in one game each with Cleveland and the New York Jets, but he was attempted a field goal in a game in 2023, when he was 1-for-1 for the Browns. He is 59-for-67 in his career in his five-year career.
Penix becomes the Falcons' first left-handed quarterback since franchise icon Michael Vick, a childhood hero and current acquaintance of Penix. Penix wore Vick's signature shoes as a youngster, and Vick texted Penix congratulations the day after he was selected by Atlanta in April.
"I keep in contact with him now," Penix said. "He's been a guy I can reach out to whenever. People forget that he had a cannon. The ball just flicked out of his hand like nothing, just effortless. I feel like we have that in common, but I'm going to give him his flowers with what he did with his legs."
Penix's left-handedness means right tackle Kaleb McGary will now be protecting his blind side, but Morris said that designation is not as important as it once was because of the preponderance of shotgun and pistol snaps the Falcons use. Atlanta has used under center snaps only 21.5 percent of the time this season, the sixth-lowest rate in the league, according to TruMedia.
Penix will become the sixth rookie quarterback to make his starting debut this year. Chicago's Caleb Williams (No. 1 overall pick), Washington's Jayden Daniels (No. 2), New England's Drake Maye (No. 3), Denver's Bo Nix (No. 12) and New Orleans Spencer Rattler (No. 150) all beat him to the punch.
"I was super excited for those guys," Penix said. "I know a lot of those guys through either playing with them or seeing Jayden at the combine and training with him. So I'm just super excited for them. And obviously we're not in the same position, I didn't look at it in a bad way."
The best of the group so far has been Daniels, who is fifth in the league in EPA per dropback (.16) and has led Washington to nine wins. Nix also has nine victories in Denver but has been less impressive statistically.
It sounds like the most important factor in Atlanta's decision to bench Cousins in favor of Penix was the fact that the Falcons are playing pretty well in other areas. Atlanta is third in rushing success rate (44.3 percent) and 13th in yards per carry (4.4), and, in the last five weeks, the defense is first in havoc rate (25.1 percent), fourth in splash play margin (2.4), four in EPA versus the run (.20) and sixth in sacks (14), according to TruMedia.
"If we can go out there and play better at quarterback, who knows what could happen?" Morris said.