Read more about the Falcons<\/a><\/p>\nDiscussing topics outside of football is how Penix connects with his teammates, which, in his mind, is vital to leading them. He made a concerted effort to spend time around the facility and attend group outings, such as fishing and, most recently, golf. <\/p>\n
As far as Penix\u2019s golf game goes, he said, \u201cDon\u2019t ask.\u201d <\/p>\n
But offensive coordinator Zac Robinson was more than willing to give a scouting report.<\/p>\n
\u201cMike is at the point where it seems like he is addicted,\u201d Robinson said before the start of OTAs. \u201cI\u2019ve never been a part of a team, even as a player, where this many guys like to golf, but it\u2019s a cool experience. It\u2019s cool to see all those guys and how interested they are in other things outside of football.\u201d<\/p>\n
Penix joined the Falcons last season as a top 10 draft pick. He seized the starting role from Kirk Cousins, who coach Raheem Morris said was not at Tuesday\u2019s voluntary practice, and threw for 775 yards in five games, which included three starts. <\/p>\n
The young quarterback\u2019s success quickly earned him the trust of his teammates \u2014 even veteran ones, such as offensive lineman Jake Matthews. The 12th year Falcon said Penix has proved he is one of the team\u2019s leaders, a quality that was evident in even his first NFL start. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s not the most talkative guy,\u201d Matthews said. \u201cBut man, it\u2019s funny, when he got that start against the Giants last year, when he got in that huddle it\u2019s like, \u2018OK, this guy knows what he\u2019s doing. He knows how to get it done. He\u2019s here to be a leader of this offense.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Now that he has his first few NFL games out of the way, Penix\u2019s next step is to go through an entire season as a starting quarterback. And Morris said he possesses the qualities required to thrive in the role.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was at a very high level \u2014 shocked us all last year (with) where he was,\u201d Morris said. \u201cSo I\u2019m really fired up and really pleased where he could go to the next step and take the next steps.\u201d <\/p>\n
One of those next steps is finding a voice. Morris wants Penix to display the \u201ccontrol and arrogance\u201d of players such as Matt Ryan and Matthew Stafford, who Morris spent time with \u2014 Ryan with the Falcons and Stafford with the Los Angeles Rams. <\/p>\n
Morris said both created a confidence the team \u201ccouldn\u2019t be beat.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you take over that quarterback spot, there\u2019s a certain humility about playing the position,\u201d Morris said. \u201cThen it becomes a certain confidence about playing the position and eventually turns into a little bit of a \u2014 almost an arrogance about playing the position where it becomes nonnegotiable. We\u2019re not there yet, I don\u2019t think we will be for a little bit, but I think he\u2019s at the mode of where he\u2019s starting to get the confidence to be able to figure out how to get to that moment.\u201d <\/p>\n
Penix said he conversed with Ryan during the offseason because he wanted to learn how to become a professional.<\/p>\n
And who better to take guidance from than a former top 10 draft pick whose career ended in the Falcons\u2019 Ring of Honor?<\/p>\n
The two discussed Ryan\u2019s day-to-day process, his transition from year one to year two under center and other \u201cthings that I needed to hear,\u201d according to Penix.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis willingness to be open with me,\u201d Penix said of what he took from the conversation. \u201cHe didn\u2019t have to give his time to me, to talk to me and pour game into me. Just him being open and being present in the conversation, it was definitely a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Penix, whom Morris said has a \u201creceiver vibe to him\u201d with an unmatched \u201cmental sharpness and intelligence,\u201d will continue to lead the Falcons through their offseason workouts and then in training camp. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe goal (is) always to win,\u201d Penix said. \u201cIt don\u2019t matter how we do it.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cHe\u2019s just got that quiet confidence,\u201d wide receiver Jamal Agnew said. \u201cHe\u2019s not one of those loud people.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":83950,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2074],"tags":[2566,223,254,2554,224,7,6,11903],"class_list":{"0":"post-83949","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-falcons","8":"tag-ajc-freelancer","9":"tag-atlanta","10":"tag-atlanta-falcons","11":"tag-atlantafalcons","12":"tag-falcons","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-ota"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114582623647307258","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}