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Bear Digest

Bears Defense May Have Caught a Break with Michael Penix Injury

Atlanta has been a different team the last three games but QB Michael Penix has an injury and his status for Sunday against the Bears is uncertain.
Gene Chamberlain|
Michael Penix Jr. sits on the bench after leaving Sunday's Falcons loss to the Ravens with a rib injury.
Michael Penix Jr. sits on the bench after leaving Sunday's Falcons loss to the Ravens with a rib injury. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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Chicago Bears

The Bears defense looked like it could use a few breaks on Sunday at Green Bay and may have received one already for their next game.

Starting Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix suffered a rib injury in Sunday night's 30-23 overtime loss to the Baltimore Ravens and had to leave the game in the fourth quarter. The Bears are at Atlanta on Sunday.

Penix has had numerous injuries over the course of his brief career, and went down after a hit on the Falcons' last drive of regulation. He was on the field, then got up and went to the bench in obvious pain. Tua Tagovailoa finished the game at quarterback for the Falcons after Penix was 19 of 32 for 240 yards and a touchdown.

Penix has played in three of the Falcons' five games and has a 104.84 passer rating with 52 completions in 77 attempts and three touchdowns with an interception. He has 719 yards in those three games.

The Falcons are fortunate to have a former starter as backup in Tagovailoa, although he threw a game-ending interception in overtime Sunday. He wasn't available to start the season when Penix was out injured, and they started Cooper Rush. The Falcons lost both games Rush started against Carolina and Pittsburgh.

Tagovailoa went 2-for-3 for 34 yards with the interception in the Sunday night loss. He finished his six seasons with Miami after last year and had a 96.4 career passer rating with 120 TD passes and 59 on 68% completions. The only time the Bears have faced Tagovailoa, he threw for three TDs in 2022 in a 35-32 win for Miami at Soldier Field.

After the game, Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski said the injury was causing great discomfort for Penix and he'd need an MRI of the injury before they knew more about it.

“He was trying to work to get comfortable and could not," Stefanski said at his postgame presser.

The Bears are not strangers to facing backup quarterbacks this season. They faced Vikings backup Carson Wentz in Week 2 and the result was a 9-3 defeat at home.

Whether it's indecision about who starts or an actual change at QB it can be a disruption for the Falcons and their process and the Bears could benefit on Sunday in a noon game.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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