Recent Comments From Falcons Penix Jr. Leave ESPN's Rich Eisen in Shock

The Atlanta Falcons quarterback sparked concern over his relationship with his team

Penix might not feel like he has a support system on the Falcons | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

ESPN’s Rich Eisen, host of the “Rich Eisen Show”, spoke out today about the conflicting quotes that came out of the Atlanta Falcons locker room on Wednesday regarding quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and his relationship with Atlanta’s staff. 

During Wednesday’s presser, the quarterback was asked who he could rely on for help both on and off the field.

“No,” Penix replied after some thought. “Mentally, my fiancée she’s always there for me… But as far as like physically like on the field stuff, umm, it’s not nobody that I will talk to, like as far as like another quarterback or anything like that. You know, I do have people reach out to me. I do have quarterback coaches back at home that reach out to me as well, telling me like ‘hey, you need to clean this up, clean that up’, so those guys help me as far as that too.”

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The second-year quarterback did not mention any names on the Falcons' coaching staff, nor did he mention the backup quarterback Kirk Cousins, who is an 11-year NFL veteran, as a mentor. The comments left Eisen shocked. 

“And then Penix is asked, who are you relying on, and he doesn’t mention the head coach, and he doesn’t mention the offensive coordinator, and he doesn’t mention the quarterbacks coach, he doesn’t mention anybody there [in Atlanta],” Eisen said on Thursday.

What makes Penix’s comments all the more shocking to Eisen was that the comments came after head coach Raheem Morris said he felt the need to be there for his quarterback after the loss in Berlin. 

“Those are the things you like to talk to him [Penix] about. Provides a little bit of relief for him, letting him know it's okay to be vulnerable in that moment, but at the same time, don’t be so disgruntled and hard on yourself that you blame yourself for everything, and it’s like, it’s the reason after those tough press conferences it’s my job to go protect him.” Morris said and read by Eisen on his show. 

The contrasting comments left the radio host wondering how these different feelings can coexist with each other. 

“And you hear that and it’s like, how do you square everything?” Eisen wondered aloud.

If there is truly a sentiment that there is no one on the team that he can rely on, perhaps there is a need for dialogue between him and the Falcons. A player should be able to say that he has the help he needs on the team he's playing for.