The biggest storyline to come out of Atlanta Falcons' practice on Monday came courtesy of Michael Penix Jr.'s injury status. Kevin Stefanski revealed after Saturday's preseason win that Penix was cleared for full contact and would take part in 11-on-11s in practice for the first time all summer.
To be fair to Penix, he's been throwing since mid-March and taking part in 7-on-7s since the start of OTAs, but this is a major step in his ACL recovery. It confirmed that not only does he have a chance to be ready for Week 1, he's still very much involved in the Falcons' QB competition with Tua Tagovailoa.
And while Monday's practice still offered a bit of an adjustment period for the former top-10 pick, there were some bright moments. He reportedly went 4-for-8 in 11s, but made one of his best plays of camp: completing a nice throw to Drake London on a crossing route for a big gain on fourth down.
9 to 5 🔥 pic.twitter.com/67R6STj3bW
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) August 24, 2026
Michael Penix Jr. is proving he has what it takes to be the Falcons' starter
The connection between Penix and London was obviously the play of the day at practice, and it's good to know that no matter what changes, their connection isn't going anywhere. And it's nice to know that the arm talent that made us all fall in love with Michael Penix Jr. still shines through.
The 26-year-old completed all of his passes to either London or Kyle Pitts, and took 14 snaps with the first-team offense compared to 11 for Tua, so I guess Stefanski wasn't kidding about the split of first-team reps. But it's encouraging he got more reps with the 1s in his first day back to full contact.
While it was far from the most perfect day of practice for Michael Penix Jr., it didn't need to be. There was always going to be a little bit of rust when this was his first taste of full contact 11-on-11s ever since he tore his ACL in Week 11 against the Panthers--and he went down with injury in November.
Even though his day wasn't particularly sharp, the good news is that Tagovailoa wasn't either. Tua went 0-for-3 passing, which doesn't include a DPI call in the red zone, but does include a Bijan Robinson drop, but the fact he's unable to pull away from a now-healthy Penix isn't a very good sign.
In his first practice after being cleared for full contact, Michael Penix Jr. made the highlight play that confirmed what most Falcons fans already knew: he has more upside as a starter than Tua Tagovailoa and definitely deserves to win this quarterback competition as long as he's making throws like this.
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