We all know the moniker by now: the only thing that could hold back Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. isn't a lack of talent, and we now know the situation is maximizing his potential, but it's a matter of staying on the field and staying healthy, which has been a consistent issue for him.
Penix is just three games deep this season after recovering from his third ACL tear in the last seven years, so the Falcons are well-versed in his injury history. They realize it's the main roadblock in his path to becoming a franchise quarterback, and unfortunately last night's loss did the kid no favors.
In the 30-23 overtime loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Penix took a shot from the Baltimore pass-rush late in the fourth quarter and injured his rib. And while he returned for a play, it was Tua Tagovailoa in at quarterback for Atlanta once the game went to overtime--and he threw a game-losing interception after the Ravens milked seven minutes off the game clock on offense.
Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski confirmed to reporters after the game that Penix was "working to get comfortable" in order to go back in, but was unable to .
That's a good sign that this rib injury isn't a long-term issue, but it's too early to make any real determinations on what is going on here given there are still tests he the former top-10 pick needs to undergo in order to determine the severity of the injury.
Michael Penix Jr. suffered a rib injury during the Falcons' devastating Week 5 loss
Frankly, this seems like more of a pain tolerance thing than him being seriously hurt, but this could also be wishful thinking. He was still crying with a towel on his head during the team's biggest drive of the season, and I can't imagine he wouldn't have been out there if this was the playoffs let's say.
The thing that sucks with this is the timing. The 26-year-old has finally been putting it all together, as this Dirty Birds offense has been humming since he returned, This coaching staff is finally playing to his strengths, and for the first time he's started to look like the franchise QB we know he can be.
Even still, Michael Penix Jr. is failing to beat the injury prone allegations. The moment doesn't get much more important than this. In overtime with a chance to tie the game on primetime in front of the home fans (and a national audience). That's daunting, but it's a moment where unless your starting QB is dying or needs an amputation, he should be out there. Even he knows he should've been playing.
The silver lining is that Penix got to set the record straight, and he backed that up, as he admitted he'll be alright and he knows that this won't be a long-term issue.. He even thinks he'll be there next week. And he also told reporters that if they got the ball first in OT, he'd have played through it, but because they had to wait for so long the pain kept getting worse to the point he couldn't play through it.
So even the supposedly positive update isn't all positive. The more time that went on, the worse he felt. It's easy to feel like a prisoner of the moment after this, but who's to say he'll be okay on Tuesday or Wednesday? With little information we have, he can say he'll play now, but this saga is far from over even if it all signs point to this being minor.
I understand not wanting to risk re-injury to the third-year man, but it doesn't make things any less alarming--especially when you consider how awful the Tua Tagovailoa pick to sealed the game was. So seeing him have to start for any length of time in lieu of Penix would suck.
Injuries have plagued Michael Penix Jr. throughout his career, and although he and Stefanski can say he's okay, but given his injury history, Falcons fans have been through this cycle before. All we can do is hope that this end result will actually be different.
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