The preseason is a time for players who may not see the field to show their skills, and the Atlanta Falcons are taking a different approach not playing Michael Penix Jr. The rookie quarterback didn't play in the preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens, and he's not expected to see the field in their final game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Many would think that the reps would help him, especially if he's not slated to be the starting quarterback to begin the season.
Nonetheless, head coach Raheem Morris has held his stance on the decision, and he spoke to Kay Adams about why Penix won't be seeing the field for the remainder of the preseason.
“You can prepare yourself by mitigating injury and we’ve learned so much more in a new game of football and age of football that we’ve changed every single year,” Morris said. “We’ve changed the way the game’s been played, we've changed the way the hits are developed, we've changed the way everything‘s going. So, we have a different approach and our approach works for us. We got him 25 snaps last week and there's a bunch of different things that we can simulate now.
“This kid is going to develop and he's done a great job of doing that already. I'm fired up to see him keep maturing and keep going.”
The Falcons want to lower the risk of injury to their players
After the Falcons preseason game against the Ravens, Raheem Morris was asked why Michael Penix Jr. didn't play in the game, and it was because they saw enough of what he could do in the opener against the Miami Dolphins, according to Falcons reporter Tori McElhaney.
“It was all about that. Last week we wanted to get him out there and get a feel for what he was in a live game, which we kind of already knew,” Morris said. “We wanted to see him be able to answer questions, talk about it on the sideline, go out there and execute, make mistakes, and know what to do. … We saw enough last week of Michael Penix in the live stuff and now we had the chance to mitigate him, and in practice, you know, we give him a bunch of live stuff in practice that you do everything that you would do in a game other than get hit.”
Many people have given their opinion on why Penix should be playing, and the main reason is that they think he needs the reps as a rookie quarterback. If Kirk Cousins suffers an injury, it would be good for Penix to already have experience on the field if he has to come in.
For Morris and the Falcons, it's all about keeping the roster healthy, especially after the few injuries that they've suffered already. On the bright side, Penix did impress in the preseason opener, and fans should be excited for the future whenever he hits the field.
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