Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. Week 9 Media Availability | Wednesday, October 29th | Press Conference

Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. Week 9 Media Availability | Wednesday, October 29th | Press Conference

You you interview but it was not scheduling. I mean we talked to everyone. So here we are. Go ahead. Don’t be mad at me. I’m confused. What she tweeted? I you tweet it. What you tweeted? I’ll tell you. It was nothing bad. Um how’s the knee? Uh what are your prospects for playing this week? I know last week you was hoping to play at this time, but so we all check in with Yeah, I felt good today. I felt I felt really good at practice today. Um, you know, I know I’m still on that day-to-day uh protocol, but you know, uh, after today, you know, I do feel good. I feel like I’m trending in the right direction, and I’m going continue to keep practicing. What happened last week is y’all were fine on Wednesday, but by the time we got to Friday, Kurt was uh getting a snap. Yeah. Um, you know, things just didn’t pan out how I thought it was. Um I I felt good coming in um in in that morning, but you know just some some things happened to where I wasn’t feeling feeling my best and I felt like you know um you know just me thinking about the team. I don’t feel like me being out there um on on Sunday would have helped the team. I feel like I wasn’t I wouldn’t have been able to get a team 100%. And that’s what I want to do each and every time I step on the field. You know, I don’t want to go out there and you know not give the team my all and not be able to give a team my all. So that’s that’s kind of where that decision came from. You know, I didn’t I didn’t feel good and I didn’t feel like I was going to be able to um you know, do what I needed to do to to help our team win. So, how tough was it watching? Um how tough was it watching and were you able to learn anything uh you know, watching that might help y’all put the offense back together? Yeah, I mean it it’s always tough, you know, whenever you can’t be out there and go to battle with your teammates, you know, but um you know, as far as what I what I learned, you know, just um we we just got to we got to find ways to to score. We got to find ways to put put um points on the board and you know that obviously not just that game, you know, we have multiple games. You talk about the San Fran game, you talk about the Carolina game, you know, we we got to find ways to score, we got to find ways to, you know, um you know, give our our defense been playing a lights out. You know, I feel like they’ve been playing great and we got to be able to play complimentary football and, you know, be able to complement what they’ve been doing on that side of the ball and we haven’t been. But, uh, that’s something we’re definitely working on and we’re going to fix. How are you feeling like physically out there? I mean, do you feel like you still have a little bit of limitations yourself? And is it hard to hold yourself back like from pushing it? No, I feel good. Um, see, I I’m not I don’t feel like I got to hold myself back. If I feel like that, I’m not going to go out there, you know. Like I said, I I want to be able to give my team our all and um you know, that’s that’s that’s what they they deserve, you know, cuz those guys are, you know, amazing, you know, obviously, like I just talked about the defense, but obviously the offensive side of the ball as well, you know, I don’t want to go out there and, you know, only be able to give half effort because of how I’m feeling, you know. So, um with that being said, I feel good. I felt great today at practice and, um we going to continue to see see how I feel, you know, the rest of this week and, you know, make that decision soon. I know you thought like you said you wouldn’t have been able to help during Miami just because you weren’t feeling well, but how hard was it for you to watch and not be playing in that game? Yeah, like I said, it’s always hard. You know, I’ve I I got history of not not being in, you know, because of injuries and, you know, it’s always hard. it don’t get no better. But um at the end of the day, you know, um your your health is your health is the number one thing, you know, and if I can’t be out there and be healthy and give my team an all, you know, I don’t feel like I I should go out there and, you know, um give give my team 80% 70%, you know, that’s not fair to those guys, you know. So, um like I said, I’m feeling good. I’m trending in the right direction, and I’m looking forward to this week. You guys are sitting one game below 500 in a very competitive NFC. Do you feel like added pressure in every every week or is that is it just like a week by week thing? You can’t focus about that. It ain’t no pressure. It’s it’s at the end of the day, man. It’s it’s football. You going to win some, you going to lose some, you know? But uh at the end of the day, I feel like for us, like we got to execute. That’s what it’s all about, you know. We got the players, we we got the coaches, we got we got the game plan, we just got to execute and uh make it happen, you know. So, um as far where we at right now, uh I feel like we’re we’re right where we want to be, you know. We’re right where we want to be. People doubting us, you know. Um people people don’t think that we can get it done and uh for us we just got to go out there and prove oursel right you know not not prove the outside people you know anything but just prove oursel right and just prove that we know who we are and just go out there and and display put it on display come Sunday and for the rest of the season the trend like over the last few weeks has been you know if the running game doesn’t get going the offense as a whole has a hard time getting going. How do you kind of uh adapt to that if teams are going to stack the box and take away Tyler and get the ball over the top? That’s it. We got to we got to win. We got to win our one-on-one matchups on the outside and um as quarterbacks, we got to deliver and give those guys opportunity to make big time plays cuz we got we got we got the guys on the outside, we got the guys on the inside. So, it’s like um who it’s like we just got to go out there and play, execute. In terms of making the line calls, how much of that is you and how much of that is D? Say it again. Making the blocking calls up front. Are you doing more of that or is Ryan doing more of that? Is it dependation? It’s both. It’s both of us. It’s a uh we we work together on it, you know. Obviously, uh just making a play the uh the protection call and stuff in the huddle and obviously uh whenever we get to the line um he’s tell he communicates what he sees. really all of the guys. Um, and uh, obviously if I see something, I gotta make sure that we’re we’re going in the right direction with our slide so that we can be protected. Coach Morris talked about how he was going to lean on that offensive line, lean on the guys because the leaders of this team. What’s been their message to the locker room? Who’s the just the offensive line? He said he was going to lean on the leaders on that offensive line. U, have you heard anything from them? Just a general message from those guys since Sunday. Oh, they up for it. They they ready. They ready to go. Um, you know, uh, they they ready to go. They up for it. They up for um the challenge that that Raheem presented to them. And um man, we we all excited to see it. You know, I know those guys work extremely hard. You know, they pride themselves into being great and winning every match up. And you know, I know um I know they will. I know they will. But it’s the NFL. We we playing a lot of great guys, you know. Um but I know I know my guys, they they definitely going to be ready. Mike, you’re obviously a contender. How frustrating is it that there are inconsistencies with this offense, especially given dating all the way back to training camp, you guys believe so much in what you have here offensively? Um, I say it’s frustrating that we not putting points on the board, you know. I’m not frustrated in the offense and what’s what’s going on cuz I know what we got. We just got to execute, you know. So, it’s frustrating knowing what we have and, you know, we’re not going out there and executing, you know, at a high level, you know. It got nothing to do with um anything on the outside. ain’t got nothing to do with play calling. It’s about us going out there and making it happen, you know? So, um that’s that’s where I’m like, we we got to fix that. We got to fix that. Looks like the weather is going to be in the 40s on Sunday. You’re absolutely no stranger to that and everyone knows a story about you having such a good performance at your workout with the Falcons. But is there something you do when it’s cooler or a reason why you think you can perform in those conditions? Man, it’s time to play. It’s time to play. I don’t matter what the weather is. That’s it. Hey, where do you see when their their defense I’m looking at the lineup for the last game? They got like five linebackers and uh just two corners and a safety with like a old school 443. Yeah, they they do a lot of things. They do a lot of things. Um you know, but obviously what they’re doing is is is working, you know, but um they do they do present a lot of challenges and uh we’re up for it. And I know the guys and uh the coaching staff, we’re all preparing, you know, for every look that we can possible and to be able to go out there and dominate and um you know, do what we want to do as a offense, you know, but they they definitely do have good players on that side of the ball outside of the scheme. They they have good players, you know, um up front and on the outside, you know, so it’s definitely going to be a big time matchup and we look forward to it. Do they stack Milton Williams and Landry together at times or from different places? The big lineman they have the Harold Landry. Yeah. What? What are you asking? Stack him and Milton Williams, the big tackle. They do everything. Those guys move around everywhere. Those guys Those guys can play anywhere. Um, that’s a good group of guys. What’s the biggest thing you need to see from yourself to feel like that you would be ready to go? No limitations on Sunday. Biggest thing I need to see for myself, just staying consistent like I did today, you know, um, staying consistent. um staying on top of my rehab, you know, staying on top of, you know, uh the my diet, you know, it goes down all the way to that, you know, um just doing the right things each and every day so that, you know, whenever I do come out here, I do feel great, you know, and um I’m going to be good, you know, I know I am. Can’t remember if it was Zach or Raheem who said it, but he said the anticipations that Darnell is going to be taking on soon. Um what have you seen from him so far just as he’s come back from dealing with injuries throughout the course of this season? And then what do you expect from him just as we move into the second half of the season? You’re talking about money. Darn. Sir, um, you can talk to him on the top. My bad. Say it again. Just he said they uh I can’t remember if it was Raheem or if it was Zach who said it, but he expects that they expect him to to take off soon. Oh, what they said. And I was just going to see. Oh, take off as in like ball. I was like, dang, I didn’t hear that. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. You using our lingo. Um, that’s what they said. Yeah, that’s okay. Uh, no, for sure. Uh definitely. Um we we um Mooney obviously we know we knew what whenever I got here I knew the type of guy that he was there. He he was a guy that you know um he he got great feet. He got great routes grout running route running skills and u he he can get open at the top of the route and early on. So um you know we we definitely going to get that going and I know he he prides himself. You got the way that he works each and every day. You know the extra things that he does extra you know drills or extra catching on the jug machines each and every day. he could tell how bad he he wanted to be great and um matter of fact, shout out to him. It’s his birthday today. Uh so uh happy birthday. Um but uh yeah, man, we we look forward to him doing great things and um you know, as long as the rest of the guys as well. So you sense frustration from him just for how the season’s gone from Mooney? See, no, I feel like, man, um I I wouldn’t say it’s frustration, you know. Obviously, I know I know how bad he wants to make plays and how bad he wants to uh you know, help us win football games and be an impact each and every week, you know, but um he he’s never been a guy that’s been frustrated or, you know, at least shows that frustration. I I don’t see it, you know, he comes out to practice the same guy each and every day. He comes ready to work and um you know, he he he’s always looking forward. So, anything else? Now y’all can go. He’s not going anywhere.

Atlanta Falcons Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. speaks with the media as the Falcons begin their preparations to take on the New England Patriots on the road this Sunday at 1pm ET.

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