Michael Penix Jr. Delivers Atlanta Falcons Fans A Major Guarantee

Michael Penix Jr. delivered Atlanta Falcons fans a promise that he would help them finally snap out of their eight-year playoff drought.

Penix, who is working to return from an ACL injury that cut his first year as a starter short, and the quarterback position in Atlanta have been the subject of speculation over the early parts of the NFL offseason. With no public timeline for a return available at this point, there has been plenty of speculation about the options the new-look front office and coaching staff will have ahead of the 2026 season.

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The regime has stopped short of putting their stamp of approval on Penix this offseason, but they have been complimentary of what he brings to the table. Should he return to health in time and remain the starter for next season, Penix is confident in what the team could do with him holding the reins.

“There's no doubt at all [about getting the Falcons back to the playoffs],” Penix told Jon Gruden on the Gruden Loves Football podcast. “It's gonna get done, guaranteed.”

While he showed some flashes of potential last season, Penix still struggled with some inconsistencies that are not uncommon for young quarterbacks in the NFL. His wide receivers (not named Drake London) often let him down, and the offense was sluggish far too often. Despite that, Penix remains confident that he is the guy to get it done in Atlanta and lead the Falcons back to the postseason.

How he and the rest of the Falcons get to that point and truly flip that switch comes down to a handful of things.

“Right now, I’ve got to get healthy and get my body to where it's unbreakable,” he continued. “And just time on task with the guys and obviously with the new system coming in, just figuring that out and learning that new offense, and just trying to figure out how to be successful in it – which I know I will be, and everybody else around us.”

As a team, Penix said he wants to see an improvement in third-down efficiency. The Falcons were 30th in the NFL in conversion rate (33.3%), but they did see a slight uptick over the final weeks with Kirk Cousins at quarterback (40.4% in that span).

“I would say the part of the game that I feel like kind of slowed us down last year was just converting on big downs and always being in third and long, second and long,” Penix said. “Just getting in those drop-back situations, but just being effective on first and second down. Find a way to do that, and I feel like we'll be in a good spot.”

Being a more efficient team will need to be a priority for the Falcons' offense as it looks to find its scoring punch. A lot of that stems from the comfort level of their young quarterback, which is something he is confident will come in time.

None of that can happen until he gets healthy, but he told Gruden that he expects to be back by Week 1, or even by training camp if everything continues to go well. As he continues to rehab his knee, he will work with an experienced coaching staff to get up to speed with the offense and be ready to earn a job that has not been promised to him.

In addition to the veteran staff, Penix will have franchise legend and president of football, Matt Ryan, to lean on. The two have already worked out his offseason plan so that he is “in a good spot” by the time he returns later this year.

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He will need to improve on what was a disappointing year for both himself and the organization. Penix finished his campaign 3-6 as the team's starter and averaged just 220 yards per game.

But the young quarterback remains as confident as he ever has that he is the guy to get it done in Atlanta, and he is blocking out the outside noise.

“I don't worry about it,” he said. “I'm the one that's out there on the field, and I know what it takes to win football games. I've done it before, and we're gonna get back to that. I'm excited for it already.”