If you thought the Atlanta Falcons weren't committed to Michael Penix Jr., you would be dead wrong. He hasn't set the NFL on fire through just 12 starts, but Penix has proven he is a capable franchise quarterback even though injury woes and an incompetent coaching staff have held him back a bit.
What many fans are forgetting is that part of why Matt Ryan hired Kevin Stefanski as the Falcons' next head coach is to work with Penix. With that in mind, Matty Ice used an interview with CBS Sports as a chance to set the record straight about he and Ian Cunningham evading questions about the QB situation during Cunningham's first presser.
"I love Mike. If you listen to the entirety of the quote, I think it's very clear. I'm high on Michael Penix. I have been for a long time. His ability to throw the football, his ability to layer the football, his ability to drive it to all different parts of the field. I think Mike's awesome... What I'm making clear is, I'm not the head coach of the football team and I know what my role is and what my role is not. Kevin's responsibility is to be the head coach of the football team and he's gonna let you know who our starters and who our starters are not."Matt Ryan
The former NFL MVP has been a mentor to the 25-year-old at every turn, so hearing him praise the southpaw should come as no surprise. He's right too, he has everything you should want in a franchise quarterback but really hasn't been given a chance to thrive the way we expected just yet.
Matt Ryan says that the Falcons' starting QB decision is out of his pay grade and that his quote was misinterpreted
For those who actually watched Cunningham's opening presser and heard the complete quote, this isn't a surprise. All they actually said is that they're not the head coach making this decision, Stefanski is, and he reinforced that same sentiment in this interview but made sure his words won't get twisted.
Ryan made it clear that everyone's input will be involved in these decisions, but that's what you should expect from a front office that's hoping to operate as collaboratively as this one. In the end, Stefanski is the one deciding who will start and who won't, even if Falcons fans don't believe him.
This whole debacle stemmed some controversy because of Penix's recent Instagram activity, but the plan has always been to start him once he's healthy. Stefanski can do really good work with the 25-year-old because of his arm strength, but he's an elite play-action QB, which is perfect for his system.
Penix is the short and long-term QB1 for the Dirty Birds as things stand right now, but this is the NFL, where things change on a whim. They'll address the position in some capacity, but it's unclear what that means.