First, Michael Penix Jr. was spotted dancing at his wedding
. Then he tossed some passes at Falcons rookie minicamp. The logical next step is dropping 350 yards in Week 1.I kid, but we’ve been looking for concrete good signs about Penix’s recovery given that it’s a significant ACL injury to return from and the team has been upbeat but vague about the young quarterback’s timeline. Seeing him moving and throwing in early-to-mid May is not the same as seeing him dealing with a pass rush or throwing on the move
in preseason action, but it is telling us he’s avoiding setbacks and tracking toward being ready to get out there and compete by, if not mandatory minicamp in June, then training camp in late July.
That’s key for Penix, who has a world-class arm, two years and a fifth year option left on his rookie deal, and a chance to still prove that he’s the franchise quarterback in Atlanta for an entirely new regime. What stands between him and that latter lofty goal is good health and progress after an up-and-down 2025 that the ACL tear ended prematurely, so the sooner he can get back out there and look good, the better. As I wrote earlier this month, his future is very up in the air and the unknowns outweigh the knowns to this point, which means Tua Tagovailoa has a real leg up on the starting job until Penix forces the team to consider him.
The next step will be ramping up drills, participating in summer scrimmages, and then getting ready to play (some likely very limited) snaps in preseason, if at all possible. Assuming he stays on track or ahead of schedule for that timeline and the milestones he’ll need to hit along the way, he should be able to push Tua for the job. Any setbacks or struggles will quickly imperil that shot.
With all due respect to Tua, I’m rooting hard for Penix to crush his rehab and prove he’s the guy, as it greatly simplifies the long-term picture for the Falcons and gives the team more potentail upside in the here and now. Here’s hoping dancing and throwing in May can translate into dominating defenses when the regular season rolls around, and we’ll wait to see if those small good signs to turn into the good health we’re looking for.
