‘Great’ Michael Penix Jr. draws rave reviews at Atlanta Falcons minicamp

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga.– Michael Penix Jr. sat in his room Thursday night at the Atlanta Falcons’ practice facility, just hours before taking to the team’s practice field for the first time.

Penix, the Falcons’ first-round pick and perceived long-term starting quarterback, received the script for Friday’s rookie minicamp practice earlier Thursday and was already confident with the plan and playbook. But some of his teammates didn’t receive their playbook until Thursday morning and, in his words, had a lot of catching up to do.

Penix, 24, knew he was going to work on the script later Thursday night, and he was about to head out into the field when he realized.

“I asked myself, ‘How does that make me a leader if I don’t bring other people with me?'” Penix said. “So, I texted the group chat and I brought the whole team. They came here and felt comfortable.”

Penix added Friday that one of his teammates came up to him and said the walkthrough helped him.

“Whatever I can do to help,” Penix replied.

Even before his first official action in the red and black jersey, Penix’s journey to establish himself as a leader began. It also provided a glimpse of the selflessness his next few years might require, leading by example while being relegated to a backup role behind Kirk Cousins.

Penix, who finished second in last season’s Heisman Trophy race, is focused on understanding the playbook and getting acclimated to the next level — but he’s also keen to build trust and relationships.

Rookie minicamp provides Penix with the opportunity to foster camaraderie with his fellow first-year players. The opportunity to do this with veterans officially begins Monday, when OTAs begin. He’s already met several inside the facility, including Cousins, as the two shared a brief conversation Friday.

For Penix, bonding with his teammates is a job that began as soon as he arrived at Flowery Branch. It already has its own script explaining how to achieve this.

“I hear a lot of guys like to play golf,” Penix said. “I like to fish – find guys who like to fish. Any way you can. We have a little basketball hoop in our locker room, we just do things like that. Spending time with each other – that’s the most important thing.”

One of the rookies already having a relationship with Penix is ​​sixth-round receiver Casey Washington, who was on the other end of several left-handed passes during minicamp.

Washington entered camp knowing the rookie signal-caller, watching from afar as Penix led college football in passing yards for the second straight season.

But after Penix’s scheduled tour Thursday evening, Washington had a new — and even more positive — perspective.

“He’s great,” Washington said. “I think he’s special from the start, making us come out as a group and show up as a leader. And obviously who he is as a football player is there as well, but just to come out here and compete with each other, it’s pretty special.”

While Penix works to adapt to a new playbook, everyone around him deals with the changes that come with being a left-handed passer. The blind side blocker turns around. The rotation of the ball is different. The visual aesthetic is unique.

Still, the enthusiasm among his teammates is palpable — even those on the opposite side of the ball, like sixth-round defensive tackle Zion Logue.

“He goes about his business,” Logue said. “He’s a real pro. He knows what he wants to do, he knows how to lead this team. He’s just ready to see it in action because we were kind of distant working on individuals rather than the whole team. team.”

Neither Washington nor Logue played with or against Penix in college. The two defensive linemen with lockers right next to him – Brandon Dorlus and Bralen Trice – did it.

Dorlus, who played at Oregon, has spent the last two years chasing Penix into the pockets of the PAC-12. When the two first met in Flowery Branch, the 6-foot-3, 283-pound Dorlus was amazed by Penix’s 10 1/2-inch hands, joking that he suddenly felt small.

But perhaps more importantly, everything Dorlus had seen on film and with his own eyes in college has been translated so far from Seattle to Atlanta.

“Big hands, quick release, he can put the ball on a wire,” Dorlus said. “It’s great to talk to him off the field – very calm, cool, collected. So, I like him a lot. He’s a good guy.”

Trice, meanwhile, had a front-row seat to Penix’s academic brilliance. In the College Football Playoff semifinals, Penix won offensive player of the game while Trice won the defensive honor.

The two formed a strong bond, and Trice believes the most important trait he learned from Penix is ​​the one the signal-caller hopes to prove the most over the coming months: leadership.

“He’s a great leader on and off the field,” Trice said. “Just over the course of the season, working with him, just keeping our heads up no matter how we finished it. 14-1, we did really well and I’m proud of how far we’ve come. Nobody Don’t see the work behind the walls that comes into play, and that’s the most important part, so I’m just proud of what we did to get there.

Penix doesn’t care about his current state as the Falcons’ backup quarterback. He plans to take the opportunity to learn from Cousins ​​in hopes of mirroring the 12-year veteran’s career longevity.

The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native said his first practice as a Falcon was fun, highlighted by his ability to compete at the highest level. It presented another opportunity to grow and improve, one of Penix’s mainstays during the offseason.

Friday was just the beginning; it’s the first of a number to which no one knows the answer. But it checked another box on Penix’s personal list, and as he progresses into the summer, he plans to fill many more.

“I just want to prove myself — when I was little, the dream I had to be here, just to prove that I belong,” Penix said. “It’s something I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid, and now that I’m here I just want to continue to prove myself every day and show not only myself but the team that I’m here to work and help. This team wins football games in every way possible.”