Penix (ribs) doesn’t think injury is long-term

Penix said after Sunday’s loss that he didn’t believe his injury would be long-term. He was replaced by Tua Tagovailoa in overtime because of his injury, but he also added that he likely would have gone back on the field had the Falcons received the ball to start the extra quarter. Instead, Penix said his pain worsened the longer he sat, which was why he ultimately didn’t go back in. Penix’s status will be one to monitor throughout the week. If he can’t start in Week 6, Tagovailoa would be in line to start his first game of the season.

Tagovailoa came on in relief of the injured Michael Penix late in the fourth quarter and would be charged with leading the Falcons to a potential game-tying drive in overtime after the Ravens took the ball and scored a touchdown to start the extra period. He completed one pass at the end of the fourth quarter, one in overtime, and then threw a game-ending interception to send the Falcons to a 2-3 record ahead of a Week 6 meeting with the Bears. Fantasy managers of Penix will want to track his status closely in the coming days.

Penix took the full brunt of a brutal hit to the midsection late in the fourth quarter of Week 5 against the Ravens. He would leave for one play due to the medical timeout, return for one play, and then retreat to the sideline. Tua Tagovailoa came on in relief in overtime, with the team designating Penix questionable to return with an injury to his ribs. Penix completed 19-of-32 passes for 240 yards and one touchdown prior to departing, adding eight yards on two carries. Fantasy managers will want to monitor his practice status in the coming days ahead of a Week 6 meeting with the Bears.

Penix wasn’t asked to do much with his arm as the Falcons tied a franchise record with five rushing scores, but the threat of consistent and reliable passing has done wonders for a Falcons offense that looked lost through two games behind poor quarterback play. It also doesn’t hurt when your All Pro running back goes for a 59-yard touchdown on his first touch of the game. The Falcons were never threatened by an underperforming Saints team after jumping out to a 14-point lead in the first quarter. Penix has yet to be called on for increased passing volume through two starts, something that could change, pending the health of Lamar Jackson, in Week 5 when they host the Ravens. Penix remains a middling QB2 and does not warrant starting in all formats outside of two-quarterback leagues.

The final stat line looks more impressive when you consider Penix started the game 1-of-5 passing with an interception, settling into the game from there to go on to complete 17 of his final 20 pass attempts. As was the case during his rookie season, Penix leaned on his top option through the air, feeding Drake London 10 targets that the talented receiver parlayed into a gaudy 194 yards, with no other pass-catcher surpassing the 19 yards receiving of running back Bijan Robinson. The Falcons improve to 1-2 on the young season while handing the Packers their first home opener loss in 14 years. Penix has all the look of an upside QB2 and deserves streaming consideration ahead of a road matchup with the Saints in Week 4.

Tagovailoa joins a jumbled Falcons backup quarterback group for Thursday Night Football. He does not need to be rostered in 12-team leagues. The Falcons will start QB Michael Penix (knee).

Tagovailoa, fighting injuries for much of the offseason, missed Atlanta’s first two games with an oblique issue. He’ll return just in time to serve as backup to Michael Penix, who’s returning from a 2025 ACL injury. Penix is set to start Thursday night against a Packers defense allowing the ninth lowest adjusted yards per pass attempt.

With Michael Penix already named the starter, Tagovailoa will be aiming to back him up in Week 3’s TNF clash with the Packers. The 28-year-old veteran got in a full session on Tuesday.

Penix will make his first start since Week 11 of last season, when he suffered a torn ACL against the Panthers. If he plays well enough, Penix will have a chance to secure the starting job for the remainder of the season, but he will have Tua Tagovailoa looming in the background once he is fully recovered from his oblique injury. Penix has struggled early in his career, throwing for 2,757-12-6 in 14 career games while completing just 59.6 percent of his passes. It seems unlikely that he will hold onto the job for the remaining 15 games of the season, but he’ll get the first legitimate crack at it after the Falcons were forced to start Cooper Rush for the first two weeks of the season. Penix shouldn’t be viewed as anything more than a low-end QB2 for fantasy purposes on Thursday night against the Packers.

Stefanski said the team will “work through what that means for this week.” Time will tell whether or not that means Tagovailoa has a chance to play in Week 3 against the Packers on Thursday night, as the Falcons have a number of ways they can go at QB this week after another disastrous outing by Cooper Rush. Tagovailoa did not log a practice last week, but Michael Penix (knee) was a full participant. It would be fair to assume that Penix is closer to returning than Tua, but we’ll see where things stand when the team releases its estimated injury report later today.