Following their dominant preseason victory over the Indianapolis Colts, Atlanta Falcons fans got enough good news. After Kevin Stefanski's squad fell flat against the Denver Broncos last Friday, they finally looked as advertised, but Stefanski ensured that the positive vibes wouldn't end with the win.
While addressing the media following the 34-6 blowout win, Stefanski gave the good news everyone was waiting to hear. He said that Michael Penix Jr. has been cleared to return to 11-on-11 work, which is the one sentence that every single Falcons fan has been waiting all offseason to hear him utter.
Michael Penix Jr. has been cleared to return to 11-on-11 work says Falcons HC Kevin Stefanski.
— Will McFadden (@willmcfadden) August 22, 2026
Penix spoke to the media on Thursday and said that he thought he would be cleared for full contact "real soon", especially since he had a call with a doctor on Thursday night. But apparently it went well enough and feel good enough about his progress that they're ready to allow him to take the next step.
Michael Penix Jr. has officially been cleared for 11-on-11 work in practice
Yes, the 26-year-old may not be in a situation where he can take hits after tearing his ACL in Week 11 against the Carolina Panthers. He himself even admitted as such. But he's been throwing since mid-March and has been taking part in 7-on-7s since OTAs. It really feels like he's very ahead of schedule.
At the start of training camp, Penix revealed that he was four weeks away from being cleared for full contact, and the four-week mark from those comments would have come this coming Wednesday. So his clearance was always coming soon, but seeing him get cleared makes this win feel sweeter.
Now that Penix has been cleared, the Dirty Birds still have a quarterback battle in their midst. Tua Tagovailoa hasn't exactly run away with the job in recent weeks and now that the former top-10 pick is getting closer to 100%, he's obviously the higher-upside QB the Falcons can start Week 1.
The two-time Coach of the Year also revealed that Penix will get his first 11s reps during Monday's practice, and first-team QB reps will finally be split between the two like Kevin Stefanski originally planned--which will mark his first official work with this new coaching staff and in this new system.
Even though Michael Penix Jr. (obviously) didn't suit up against the Colts, it sure feels like he's the biggest winner of a Falcons' preseason game that had a lot of winners--especially since this QB battle is back to being wide open instead of being all but solved.
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