Tua Tagovailoa will start the first preseason game, but the Falcons are not ready to hand him the job for the regular season. Michael Penix still isn’t cleared for team work, and the Falcons are allowing him time to get into the competition.
“Feeling good. Getting better every day,” Penix said Wednesday, via video from the team. “It’s just like I expected. Just doing everything I can to get back to where I want to be.”
Penix said he continues to work on getting full strength back in his left knee after he underwent surgery Nov. 25 to repair an ACL tear. However, no one is offering a timeline for when Penix will receive clearance to return to all football activities.
“I can do just about anything but take a hit, and that’s what we’re trying to stay away from right now,” Penix said.
Penix had two separate ACL tears in his right knee in college, two years apart. So, he knows what to expect. He knows the mental hurdle he still has to overcome to be “worry-free” on the field.
“It’s in your mind,” Penix said. “I’ve been through it two times already, so I know what I’m going to be going through. I know the mental aspect of it. It’s like, ‘Yeah, I am healthy,’ but it’s like, ‘OK, do I trust that?’
“I went and saw the doctor before camp started. He was like, ‘This is an amazing ACL. You should never have any more knee problems for the rest of your career.’ That’s word-for-word what he told me, so it’s like, ‘I hear that. Do I trust that?’ It’s more so having that confidence in it and not worrying about it. Injuries happen in football. At the same time, you don’t want it to happen again. So, it’s like I’ve got to get out of my mind, ‘What if it happens again,’ and just go out there and just play.”
Penix, 26, has started 12 games since the Falcons drafted him in the first round in 2024. He has thrown for 2,757 yards with 12 touchdowns and six interceptions.
