Under this new regime, the Atlanta Falcons are ushering in a new era of Falcons football, most of which has been defined by the impending quarterback battle between Michael Penix Jr. and Tua Tagovailoa, which new president of football Matt Ryan definitely helped play a role in pursuing.
Even though Kevin Stefanski and Ian Cunningham are the ones in the limelight and directly making all of the moves, Ryan deserves his credit too. While NFL league meetings were going down in Phoenix, the former NFL MVP made sure to pull back the curtain on what the Dirty Birds' thought process is.
While appearing on the Up and Adams Show, Matty Ice discussed a slew of interesting topics with Kay Adams, including what to expect from Atlanta's new uniforms and the Falcons' revamped QB room.-- but perhaps the most interesting part of the interview is when they discussed Penix's rehab.
""The answer is, you never know. He has hit every checkpoint along the way up until this point, but you just don't know until they're out there playing you don't know if something is going to come up. I will say this about Michael: he's done everything the right way. He's been in the building, his rehab, his attention to detail during the rehab has been excellent, mindset, attitude, all of those things have been great... I've been really impressed with him.""Matt Ryan
Thankfully, Ryan was able to give a positive update on where the 25-year-old stands in his ACL recovery, especially as a return to the field looms. He revealed that Penix has "hit every checkpoint along the way", but did not want to speak too soon in case something else comes up before camp.
Michael Penix Jr.'s resilience through the rehab process is starting to impress Matt Ryan
Even as Penix braces for a return, the hard part is far from over. He still has to fend off Tagovailoa in an open QB competition to kick off training camp, but the Falcons are trying to ensure that he doesn't focus too much on that. His priority should always be to get healthy and to mostly focus on the rehab.
But still, knowing he's off to a good start quells many people's fears. A large portion of the fanbase still isn't on board with the Tagovailoa signing, and many Falcons fans still believe that Penix could be a franchise quarterback-- he just deserves time to turn things around playing for a competent staff.
The four-time Pro Bowler also revealed that Penix has started to capitalize on his presence in the building by using him as a resource. It isn't everyday you get free mentorship and constant access to the best signal-caller in franchise history, so picking Ryan's brain is smart for the third-year QB to do.
As we know, the Washington product has been through the rehab process multiple times now, so he should know what he can and can't handle after another serious knee injury. And given Tagovailoa's injury history, there are things he could stand to learn from his QB competitor, which is promising.
Penix still has a lot to prove in Stefanski's system if he wants to turn around his career in Atlanta, but the issue is more with consistency rather than talent. So in order to rewrite the narrative, the first step is getting him fully healthy like Ryan said before hoping Stefanski can help him capitalize on his second chance.