Penix Out To Show Seattle Isn't His Only Safe Place

Over the past eight years, the lefty quarterback has been injury free only in Montlake.

Michael Penix Jr. leaves the field after losing to No. 1 Michigan 34-13. | Skylar Lin Visuals

Seattle has always been Michael Penix Jr.'s refuge from injuries, his safe place out of harm's way.

After suffering four season-ending wounds at Indiana, the lefty quarterback spent two gloriously healthy years with the University of Washington football team not once having to use a crutch, wear a sling or have some sort of invasive medical procedure.

However, since leaving the comfort of Montlake, Penix returned to old, unwanted habits with the Atlanta Falcons by tearing up a knee and having surgery last November, leaving him in limbo once more.

It's almost hard to believe that Penix over 33 months after leaving the UW has appeared in just 14 football games.

On Thursday, he'll make his much-anticipated return from his latest personal mishap after being named the quarterback starter for the Falcons' Thursday Night Football game against the Green Bay Packers, an outing that will be shown to the nation on Amazon Prime Video.

Michael Penix Jr. provides an autograph during a visit to the 2025 UW Spring Game. | Skylar Lin Visuals

For his sake, here's hoping Penix can find something that resembles that Seattle safety blanket in order to finally launch his NFL career in a big way.

"He's put in a tremendous amount of work," Falcons offensive coordinator Tommy Rees told reporters this week. "Very excited for Mike. Obviously, he has a tremendous skill set. His skill set's one you can do a lot with."

Mostly, he's got a proverbial rocket for an arm.

Michael Penix Jr. has been named starting quarterback for Thursday's gamehttps://t.co/EyBzaBvKii pic.twitter.com/320iqTJ4hN

— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) September 21, 2026

For the Huskies, Penix appeared in 28 games in which he led them to 25 victories and the CFP national championship game. He beat USC in Los Angeles, Texas twice in bowl games and Oregon three times, including once in Eugene.

Without a career interruption -- outside of missing one late series at Arizona State when he was shaken up on a pass rush -- Penix completed 725 of 1,109 passes for 9,544 yards for 67 touchdowns, with 19 interceptions, as he enjoyed an uninterrupted two years of heavy UW production.

Since joining the NFL, the Falcons made him a back-up to Kirk Cousins for a season and he appeared in just five games in 2024. At least it kept him healthy.

After the Falcons turned the team over to the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Penix last season, he led them to victories over Buffalo, Minnesota and Washington -- going head to head with QBs Josh Allen, J.J. McCarthy and Marcus Mariota -- before consecutive overtime losses to Indianapolis and Carolina led to him suffering his fifth season-ending football injury against the Panthers.

The Falcons next went out and obtained quarterback Tua Tagovailoa seemingly to replace Penix this season, but the new guy couldn't stay healthy either.

So Penix, through all of these trials and tribulations, gets yet another NFL chance to put his talents on display.

He's 4-8 as the Falcons starter, with 227 completions in 381 passes for 2,757 yards and a dozen touchdowns, all numbers he can greatly improve on with some extended good health.

Yet if this Atlanta comeback doesn't work out, there's only one solution for this guy -- send Penix back to Seattle in a trade or a free-agent signing, a place where nobody ever tries to hurt him.