Atlanta Falcons Coaches Respond to Misquoted Video About Michael Penix Jr.

FLOWERY BRANCH, GA – On Wednesday, a video of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. circulated on the internet. The post mischaracterized some comments that he made in reference to a question he was asked by members of the media.

In this video, he was asked who he leaned on. To which Penix had this to say:

“Mentally, my fiancée she's always there for me. So, I know whenever I get home, it doesn't matter how I play. She's always gonna be there for me. She's going to have a smile on her face and give me a hug, and make me feel good no matter what. But as far as physically the on the field stuff, it's nobody that I'll talk to, like as far as another quarterback or anything like that. I do have people reach out to me. I do have quarterback coaches back at home that reach out to me as well, tell me, hey, like you need to clean this up, clean that up, you know, and everything will be good. So, those guys help me as far as that, too. So, again, shout out to them.”

The account spun this to mean that he couldn’t rely on the coaching staff at Flowery Branch, which is not at all what he said – he said as much in the locker room after the media session. It was misleading at best, dishonest at worst.

Regardless, the video made its rounds throughout the next 24 hours, even making it to the Rich Eisen Show on Thursday. On Friday, the Falcons had a chance to respond. According to ESPN’s Marc Raimondi, head coach Raheem Morris and quarterbacks coach D.J. Williams had this to say.

“Stop looking for stuff on a young man,” Morris said.” You don’t need this stuff on him. It is what it is. But all of those things people do. It doesn’t matter to affect this building. I just feel bad for the kid. I don’t want the kid having to deal with stuff that doesn’t matter or stuff that’s not real.

“Let his problems be his problems, like third downs. Let’s fix those. Don’t make up [a thing] that doesn’t exist.”

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Williams said he doesn’t pay attention to things like this. His focus has been on converting in the red zone and on third downs in Week 11 against the Carolina Panthers. Everything else he says is “elevator music.”

“I joke with the quarterback room, I'm like, ‘Bro, I see y'all more than I see my kids.’ So, if we don't have some vulnerable conversations and you can't be sensitive, I can't be sensitive, we've got to talk every single day,” Williams said. “So all those guys, we talk every single day, you know what I mean? Probably more than I talk to a lot of people.”

The reality is that the young quarterback has struggled throughout the 2025 season. He has just 1,807 yards and a 58.8% completion percentage that ranks 31st in the NFL. His QBR is 19th, and his passer rating is 25th in the NFL.

Penix is still young and just in the early phases of learning how to play quarterback in the NFL. The outrage over his comments likely just stems from frustrated Falcons fans who are quickly watching as another season slips away. The misquote just provided the ammunition.

Fair or unfair, that’s the life of an NFL quarterback. Now it’s on Penix to go out and make them forget.