Falcons’ Michael Penix Jr. fully cleared to practice, set to compete with Tua for QB1 role

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. has been cleared to return to 11-on-11 work and will begin working back into team settings in practice beginning Monday, coach Kevin Stefanski said Saturday after his team’s 34-6 preseason victory over the Indianapolis Colts.

This medical clearance is the final hurdle for the third-year pro to compete with Tua Tagovailoa for the Falcons’ starting job this season.

Penix, who has been limited to seven-on-seven work for the first three weeks of training camp, was the eighth pick in the 2024 draft. He has only started 12 NFL games after backing up Kirk Cousins for the first half of his rookie season and then missing eight games last year with a torn ACL. The injury, suffered in Week 11, was Penix’s fifth season-ending injury since the start of his college football career, and he has acknowledged during training camp that he and his doctor are being particularly cautious with this one.

“As far as moving in the pocket, I can do everything,” he said Thursday before meeting with his doctor. “If I had a rush coming at me, I can get away. It’s just, if I don’t get away, that’s what we’re thinking about right now — if I don’t get away. I don’t think my doctor is ready for me to take those hits right now, but that time is coming real soon.”

Penix’s doctor told him he has an “amazing ACL” and that he should not be concerned about reinjury, the quarterback said, but his return to practice will require getting over a mental hurdle.

“Mentally, I don’t know how to put it,” he said. “If something bad happened to you, right? And you remember every step of what happened getting you up to that point; the next time you do it, you are going to think about it again. Even if you feel like the results are going to be better.”

Penix will not have to worry about taking any hits in practice, but he could play in the Falcons’ final preseason game at Miami next Friday.