Falcons Safety Aiming to Provide More Support to Michael Penix

The Atlanta Falcons safety has been building a bond with Penix and feels he needs to take it a step further

One of Penix's peers on defense is able to relate to him | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Falcons lost their fourth straight game on Sunday. A heartbreaker in Berlin, Germany, Atlanta fell 31-25 to the Indianapolis Colts in an overtime duel. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. struggled, completing just 12 of his 28 pass attempts (42.9%), for 177 yards, a touchdown and a lost fumble. Penix, a perfectionist, took the loss hard and was visibly shaken up during the Falcons' post-game presser following the loss.

One of his teammates empathized with Penix, showing an understanding of what he’s going through. 

“I should probably start talking to him [Penix] even more now,” Safety Jessie Bates said on Thursday. “You know, when stuff, when it gets hard, when you’re not playing well, you know it’s easy to go and, you know, hide away and not want to talk to anybody. So yeah, that evolved.”

Bates, who is Penix’s locker mate, has quickly developed a relationship with the second-year quarterback. One is the leader of the defense. The other is the leader of the offense. Having similar responsibilities can help forge a bond. 

Conversations between the two players doens’t end with emotional support. On-field adjustments have joined the discussions, too.

“And to watch him continue to try and figure out what he can do to, you know, make more plays, whether that’s him, he’s been using his feet a lot more, something that we kind of talked about. Just being able to extend plays and use his athletic ability that I think a lot of people don’t know he has.” Bates said.

Bates’ support is coming at a time when Penix is placing heavy expectations on himself.

“Whenever I’m not completing wide open passes, I feel like I’m letting my team down,” Penix said on Wednesday.

Together, Bates and Penix represent the emotional epicenter of a Falcons team trying to steady itself after a rough month. The team has not won a game since Oct. 13, when they beat the Buffalo Bills 24-14. With Atlanta sitting on a four-game skid, the relationship between the leaders on offense and defense has taken on an added importance as the Falcons search for answers. 

The truth is that Penix struggled on Sunday and did not play well. However, instead of pointing fingers, Bates has reached out to Penix to know he’s not alone, and head coach Raheem Morris has doubled down on his confidence in the quarterback.

“Mike is going to be so hard and critical of himself that it’s always going to be his fault, no matter what and where they were, but we have some things that we can clean up around him… I feel really great with Mike’s command.” Morris said.

And with the Falcons fighting to save their season that is quickly slipping away, that backing matters. Atlanta knows the scoreboard hasn’t gone their way as of late, but the focus now is on growth, not blame.