If you’re like me, you watched the end of Ravens-Falcons on Sunday night with an overwhelming sense of dread. The moment Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr. pulled that towel over his head on the sideline as the Ravens rolled in overtime, I knew the game was over. And I was very worried about Penix’s availability in the short term.
Thankfully, Penix was able to practice fully on Wednesday. After practice, he noted that he made all of his throws on Wednesday.
“They get better every day. I felt good today at
practice,” Penix said. “… I just gotta stay on top of my rehab and just make sure I’m doing all the right things.”
Penix would not elaborate on the nature of the injury (he was asked if it’s a bruised rib, and he said he didn’t want to get too specific). But he did tell us the MRI was positive. Thankfully, before I got a chance to, Marc Raimondi from ESPN clarified with Penix that the MRI was not positive for any type of injury, but the results of the MRI were positive for Penix’s chances to start agains the Bears on Sunday.
“Positive means I’m good to play,” said Penix.
Even though Penix felt good in practice, it wasn’t perfect.
“It’s not always comfortable, but I made every throw today,” he said.
During the limited portion of practice we are permitted to watch, Penix was definitely moving around well today. There wasn’t any noticeable hesitation or gingerness in his rib area as he worked through drills.
One little bit of luck for Atlanta is the absence of Montez Sweat this week due to his suspension for violating the league’s PED policy. But Penix, while acknowledging the mark Sweat can leave on games, said that the rest of the defensive front in Chicago is also tough.
“I feel like he is an impact player, so he makes impacts on games, but the next-man-up mentality in the league — I feel like the guys that’s right behind are almost as good. They’re very close. So it’s hard for us to try to say that that’s going to change much because of him being out.”
We’ll see what the official injury report says about Penix when it’s released Wednesday, and we’ll continue to monitor his status through the week and heading into Sunday’s matchup against the Bears.
