The Atlanta Falcons’ preseason was supposed to be about Michael Penix Jr. Then Kirk Cousins would take over for the regular season.
Apparently Penix doesn’t really need the preseason reps that much.
It was a bit of a surprise that Penix didn’t start Saturday’s preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens. Taylor Heinicke got the start. Falcons coach Raheem Morris explained that Penix did enough last week that he can sit the final two preseason games.
“Mike showed us last week enough that we don’t have to play him again in the preseason,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said after the game, via Terrin Waack of the team’s site.
The thought process behind that is hard to follow. If all goes well for the Falcons this season, Penix won’t play any meaningful snaps. The eighth pick of the NFL Draft was selected to eventually replace Cousins, but there’s no question that for the next season or two Cousins will be their preferred starter and will keep the job if he plays well. You’d think the Falcons would want to get Penix game reps when they can.
Last week Penix did look good, 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 through 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 injured.
It seemed logical that the Falcons would play Penix a lot in the preseason. The decision to draft Penix a little over a month after signing Cousins was unconventional, and the decision to sit Penix for most of the preseason is a bit counterintuitive as well. But that’s apparently the decision. It might be a long time before we see Penix play a significant amount again.
