Falcons rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. was a notable absence in Week 2 of the preseason and head coach Raheem Morris had a questionable response when asked why.
Per Falcons.com senior reporter Tori McElhaney, Morris said that Penix had “showed the coaching staff enough in that first preseason game in Miami that they didn’t feel the need to play him today.”
You might be asking yourself, “How is it possible for a team to see all it needs from a rookie quarterback in 16 pass attempts?”
And that would be fair.
Penix went 9-of-16 for 104 yards in Week 1 of the preseason against the Dolphins. He posted a 76 passer rating, the lowest among 2024 first-round quarterbacks.
According to Morris, he seemingly did enough to earn the No. 2 job behind starter Kirk Cousins. But that makes the decision to bench him against the Ravens even more confounding.
It’s not unusual for a starter to sit during the preseason, but a team deciding against playing its top two quarterbacks is bizarre.
Backups need all the reps they can get, particularly a rookie like Penix, who was inconsistent in his first preseason action.
He shouldn’t receive many snaps in the regular season unless Cousins, who is coming off a torn Achilles, suffers another injury.
In that case, Penix might find himself behind the curve because of his lack of preseason snaps.
Other rookie quarterbacks — including Caleb Williams (Bears) and Drake Maye (Patriots) — received significant playing time in Week 2, while Bo Nix (Broncos) will start Sunday against the Packers.
The Falcons missed a golden opportunity to let Penix lead the offense in a game-setting for one of the few times he might be able to this year. If he’s thrust into regular-season action, Penix won’t be as prepared as he could have been.
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