Michael Penix participates, and everything else you need to know from Monday’s Falcons practice
· Yahoo Sports
I thought the Falcons would slow-roll Michael Penix into full contact after he was medically cleared to return to football activities over the weekend. And Monday was not a padded practice, so that’s been slow-rolled at least until tomorrow. But Penix did get a lot of work.
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Cooper Rush and Jack Strand did not get a lot of work — something Kevin Stefanski noted prior to practice. Since the backups got so much playing time on Saturday against the Colts, the coaching staff took it a bit easy on them today and let the starters get more reps.
Here’s my real-time reporting from the day, and check out everything you need to know from today’s practice below.
Kevin Stefanski on all things Penix
- I mentioned in Monday’s Falcons Opening Drive my concern about whether Michael Penix Jr. is mentally recovered from his knee injury and reconstruction. Stefanski addressed it too, saying, “I think bigger picture for me at least right this minute is getting [Penix] in the huddle with all 11.”
- Some outlets apparently took this Kevin Stefanski quote to mean that Jack Strand is a serious contender at QB1. I’m curious what y’all think: “At this point, Jack’s going to work with the 2s and 3s. We’re very excited about his development … player development is a huge part of what we do. Player development is important to us, and being intentional about the way we bring guys along is important to us,” Stefanski said.
- The Falcons’ starters will play this week against the Miami Dolphins to close out the preseason. At this point, Stefanski doesn’t have a set plan for workloads for the starters, but I suspect we’ll get more details on Wednesday when he speaks to the media again.
- On whether or not that includes Penix: “Michael’s had a bunch of reps without the pass rush, he’s more than eager to get out there and practice, and he’s done a great job … I think there are ways to get ready, to prepare yourself” without taking that contact or that risk, and Stefanski said Penix has done a fantastic job with that.
Falcons practice notes:
- There were no pads and there was no contact in Falcons practice today, so I think it’s important to take what we saw with a grain of salt.
- Both Tua Tagovailoa and Penix had some off-target throws — often a bit high. There was one Drake London might have been able to pull in, but Tua sailed it over his head and out of bounds. Penix also hit London deep, slightly off target, but like Penix said last week — generally, you’ve just got to get the ball in London’s (or Pitts’) vicinity and let them go up and get it.
- MPJ also looked very comfortable connecting over the middle with Pitts — no shock, but fun to see!
- Penix was pressured on one rep and used his legs to extend the play. Again, no pads, no contact, but there wasn’t any hesitation there and that was nice to see.
- Natrone Brooks got some praise from coaches in special teams drills — he was called out for taking a great angle as a gunner and also had a nice little kick return in the next set of drills.
- On back-to-back plays, Tua Tagovailoa was pressured, escaped contain and ran it. It was fun to watch and makes me nervous as hell about his concussions.
- Penix hit Drake London on an over-the-middle completion, and the crowd went WILD. The crowd was every single one of Penix’s teammates. He got them so hyped up!
- I’ve mentioned this a couple of other times in the last few weeks, but I like the approach to teaching we’re seeing from the coaching staff. One thing in particular is IMMEDIATE correction when someone makes a mistake. Saw that quite a bit today.
- They also did some blocking drills that were walk-through speed, so there’s really not much to report. Both Penix and Tua got reps with the 1s.
I can’t make it up here Tuesday (I am heading to New York City Friday to cover the US Open, and I need one day in my office to get some actual season prep done first!) but I will be back on Wednesday with updates on the QB situation, position battles, and whatever else comes out of that practice.