Ever since the offseason kicked off, the burning question on the mind of every Atlanta Falcons fan has been about when MIchael Penix Jr. will return to the field. The hope has been that Penix will be good to go for the start of training camp, where he'll compete with Tua Tagovailoa to be the Falcons' Week 1 starter.
The Falcons' new regime has been trying not to apply any uncessary pressure on the 25-year-old regarding the competition. Kevin Stefanski has praised him. So has Ian Cunningham. And now president of football Matt Ryan is once again breaking his silence on the matter with another update.
While appearing on 680 The Fan on Monday, Ryan was asked about how Penix's recovery is coming along, and he dropped a positive development. Naturally, Atlanta doesn't know what to expect nearly two months from now, but he subtly revealed that his recovery has progressed to on-field activities.
"You've gotta give the player credit," Ryan said. Mike has been on it. He looks good. He's done a lot of stuff for us on the field...We don't really know what to expect at the beginning of training camp, but... the way both those guys have started the offseason, I think it'll put us in a good spot." -
Michael Penix Jr. is back doing on-field drills for the Atlanta Falcons
The former NFL MVP said that Penix "looks good", which you should expect from a guy who's well-seasoned in the ACL recovery process. But he followed up his words by saying you never know what to expect, which is him just urging the Dirty Birds to proceed with caution as to not divert his focus.
Ryan has heaped praise upon the Washington product amid his recovery basically all offseason long, but this may be the most ringing endorsement. Not only did he make a point about his return to the field, he made sure to discuss the state of the QB room and the looming competition between Penix and Tua.
As we all know, both signal-callers come with injury histories, so knowing the Falcons think they're in a good spot is telling. There's been a lot of doubts surrounding the Tua signing (even at the price), but given the situation and a better supporting cast, they can surprise some people if they remain healthy regardless of who starts.
On an unrelated note, Penix's wedding was this weekend and videos surfaced showing he could move well. The Heisman Trophy runner-up seemed to have had no issues getting a move on on the dance floor, so if he can dance, he should be on the right track health-wise as training camp nears.
The belief all offseason is that the 2024 first-round pick will be ready for Week 1 of the 2026 season but like Ryan said, let's not get ahead of ourselves. I still expect Tagovailoa to be the starter until the Falcons deem Penix 100% healthy, but if he's back on the field, that could be sooner than we expect.
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