00:00Joe, what's your assessment on this decision to not play Michael Pinnock's Friday?
00:05I'm surprised, guys.
00:07Like, I thought that, you know, the way that this was tracking,
00:09he gets into practice at the beginning of the week.
00:11He basically, you know, would have had a week to prepare himself
00:15and then not just, like, obviously play a whole game,
00:18but to go out there for a series,
00:20it feels like that would be something that, you know, would be useful for him.
00:24But I'm very surprised in that respect.
00:27But it's been interesting to me, guys, since the news came down
00:30and then, you know, you see Adam Schefter tweet it
00:32and then you see some of these NFL insiders, these national guys,
00:35start to give some commentary.
00:37It didn't seem to me like a lot of that commentary was really, like,
00:43suggesting that Michael Pinnock's is out of the potential quarterback one competition
00:48for week one.
00:49I followed up with Kevin Stefanski to ask him, you know,
00:52if Michael isn't able to play or he's not going to play in this game,
00:55does that basically mean that Tua's going to be your week one starter?
00:58And he didn't want to go so far as to say, yes, he was.
01:01So it's very interesting in that respect,
01:04whether it's, is it wise to play Michael Pinnock potentially in week one,
01:08having not played, you know, preseason?
01:10That's, you know, a decision for the coaching staff.
01:12But to answer your question, Carl,
01:14I'm definitely surprised that he's not going to play any part in this one.
01:17Me too.
01:18Yeah, and it's, like, disappointing for the fans
01:20because all we've seen is Tua looked bad
01:22and Jack Strand looked good.
01:24Cooper Rush looked good as well.
01:27Now, I don't want to put words in your mouth,
01:29and I don't know if Stake put words in your mouth,
01:31but I heard Stake talking to, and Sandra was Steve Weiss today,
01:33and they were relating that you thought, you know,
01:35maybe there's certainly a vibe that the players are behind Michael Pinnock's Jr.,
01:39and maybe they're not connecting with Tua?
01:42Well, no, I just think that, like,
01:44they have more experience with Michael Pinnock's.
01:46Like, these playmakers have been with Mike for three years,
01:50and this is going on the third year now,
01:52and they've been through ups and downs with him.
01:54They've been through way more reps with him than they would have with Tua.
01:58And, you know, I will also say that, you know,
02:02when Kirk Cousins came in,
02:04he was doing everything he possibly could
02:07to try to get on the same page with his guys.
02:10You know, he coordinated a trip to go down and see John Gruden in his offices
02:15and was, you know, doing all that kind of stuff.
02:18And, you know, I don't know that that same kind of level has been there
02:22in trying to get that time on task, as Kirk might say.
02:26So I'm not suggesting that, like, the guys don't like one of the quarterbacks
02:30or they do like one of them more.
02:31I'm just saying that it's just true, factually,
02:35that they just have spent more time
02:36and have a better understanding with, you know,
02:39one of these guys than the other,
02:41who is obviously newer to the team.
02:43But I will say, you know, like Tua has looked for in some of these,
02:48I call them, like, public appearances that he's had,
02:51whether it's these preseason games or whatever.
02:54I would say even at Lanier, you know,
02:55there was, like, an ugly, fumbled handoff between he and B. John.
03:00But it hasn't all been bad.
03:01I think it's getting a little bit overblown
03:04because just some of the worst stuff has happened
03:06in some of these, you know, more public moments.
03:07But, like, he had a great day today.
03:09And I kind of continue to joke, guys,
03:11that, like, I think the best quarterback situation for this team
03:14is a joke.
03:15But, like, it's to have Pennix play until you get to the 20-yard line
03:18and then you put Tua in in the red zone
03:21and you let him use his little ability to layer those balls in
03:24and that accuracy.
03:25So that might be the best option.
03:26But that's like, you know, you're building a robot quarterback
03:29at that point.
03:30Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how they end up meshing with Tua.
03:33Yeah, this is why I love you, Joe, though.
03:35This is what you're fair and balanced reporting.
03:37Did you, because you just said that's something very important.
03:41Like, he's had good days.
03:43That's been lost in this conversation.
03:46It's all been, it's been lost.
03:48And so, like, the Falcons don't think he's a bum.
03:51Has he mastered this offense?
03:53That I don't know.
03:54But I will tell you what I'm hearing.
03:55You tell me what you think.
03:57That that has been one of the deals with both of these guys
03:59taking in a new offense.
04:01And look, when you have full confidence in what you're doing,
04:04you play differently, right?
04:06And so, I think that part of it for Tua has been the growing pains
04:11that Alex Van Pelt has been talking about,
04:12and even, I think, Tommy Reese.
04:13What do you think?
04:15Yeah, 100%.
04:16I would even go back, when you talk about that confidence aspect,
04:18you go back to that Denver Broncos preseason game,
04:21and, you know, he's got Ethan Oneonwa starting at right tackle
04:24in that game.
04:25And then by the second drive, Jake Matthews got a little dinged up,
04:27so he comes out.
04:28And you've basically got two backup tackles at that point.
04:32And, you know, it's understandable.
04:34And I'm not going to say that it was acceptable,
04:37you know, the performance that was out there.
04:39Because certainly, you know, not catching a shotgun snap
04:41is nobody's fault but Tua's.
04:43But you can certainly understand why maybe the clock is sped up
04:46in that instance, and you're just trying to kind of survive
04:49at that point.
04:50So, yeah, it hasn't all been bad for Tua.
04:52I will say this, though, Carl, that is that, you know, again,
04:55to kind of go back to some of these national reporters,
04:57they do suggest that, like, he hasn't really shown enough
05:02to this point.
05:03And I would say I agree that, like, if he had gone out there
05:07and played well enough, he would have had the job by now.
05:10I agree.
05:10Look, the fact that Coach hasn't named who the starter is,
05:14everybody else in the NFL has.
05:15Everybody else.
05:16But I also missed the first week of practice with his back issue.
05:19That's what a lot of people in the national narrative
05:20keep forgetting.
05:22Mike, that's a really good point.
05:23And it's something that I've kind of been thinking about
05:25a little bit more, which is that, and it also, you know,
05:28it seemed like unsuspected, you know, like he came in
05:31and it was a bit of a surprise.
05:32And you just wonder how much that kind of set back, you know,
05:36what the coaches had planned for those opening practices,
05:39the opening week.
05:40He just frankly wasn't able to do a whole lot.
05:43In fact, what we were talking about during that time
05:45was that Penix was actually doing more for a while
05:48early in training camp,
05:49even though Penix wasn't participating in the 11-on-11 stuff,
05:52you know, he was able to throw the football around a lot more
05:55in the 7-on-7s and give the receivers some of the better work
05:58than what Tua was able to do because he came in with that injury.
06:00So I do wonder also if that set him back to the point
06:03where it did make this more of a competition,
06:05maybe than the coaching staff and Kevin Stefanski
06:08would have thought it would have been coming into it.
06:09Smoking Joe Patrick with our Falcons Camp Confidential
06:12here on Dukes and Bell.
06:13All right, so you just said, don't be surprised,
06:16maybe Penix can still start week one.
06:18We'll wait and see.
06:19What are we going to do with Jack Strand?
06:22I think you have to roster him on the 53-man roster.
06:26It's not to say that, like, if you don't do it,
06:28then he's definitely going to get snapped up.
06:30But if you don't do it,
06:31I know Sean Payton's going to be looking at him being like,
06:33how can I make room to pick this guy up
06:36so that I can just burn the Falcons
06:38because I feel like it one more time.
06:39No, but I mean, I think with what he's shown,
06:42he's obviously shown enough
06:44to become a commodity around the league.
06:47And I frankly, guys,
06:48I think it would just kind of be embarrassing
06:52for the Falcons to, you know, make the move,
06:54the gamble to let him, you know, to wave them
06:57and then try to get him back on the practice
06:58only for that to happen.
07:00And then it would be even more embarrassing
07:01if he goes on to, you know,
07:03achieve something in the NFL.
07:05And I think that, you know,
07:06speaking of achieving things,
07:08like we're kind of joked,
07:09he's from this small school.
07:11And obviously there's this other quarterback competition
07:13that's happening that he's not really a part of
07:15and isn't going to immediately have any playing time.
07:17But, you know, I wouldn't put it past him
07:19developing into somebody who could potentially be
07:22a starting quarterback in the NFL.
07:24I mean, he's got a lot of the measurables.
07:26You know, obviously,
07:28I think the reason why he slipped through the cracks
07:30a little bit was obviously just because of where he played
07:32and the lack of tape that was out there of him
07:35and the scouting knowledge.
07:37And so now more of that's getting out
07:39because he's playing, you know,
07:41on the biggest stage
07:41and he's proving to not really be too affected
07:45by the NFL level.
07:46For somebody coming from a school as small as his
07:49and then to adapt as well as he is
07:51to this new environment at this professional level
07:53says a lot about the work that he's put in.
07:56And I think that there's a ceiling
07:58that I don't know where it is, actually, guys,
08:00because he's got the ability to run,
08:02he's got speed, he's got size,
08:03he's got the throwing power,
08:05and he just feels like he's got some natural comfort
08:08back there in the pocket.
08:09I agree.
08:10It is our buddy Joe Patrick.
08:11He's been at all of these Falcon practices.
08:13Today, the announcement by Kevin Stefanski
08:15is Pennix will not play on Friday.
08:17So we're examining that and talking about it
08:19because I want to ask you this,
08:20and maybe it's, you know, a little bit unfair,
08:22but I have to ask from the standpoint of
08:24how much confidence will you have
08:27knowing that we will not have seen him
08:28since the last time he walked off the field
08:30and was injured last year.
08:32And more than likely, it will be a real game
08:34when we finally get a chance to see Pennix
08:37and that you have the confidence
08:38that he's going to be just fine.
08:40Because I think a lot of fans feel that way
08:43that are in support of Michael Pennix,
08:44just like brushing this off and being like,
08:46hey, Joe, you know what?
08:47He'll start week four and he'll throw four touchdowns.
08:50He might, but he might not.
08:53Right, exactly, exactly.
08:55And that's why, you know, regardless of whether
08:56he's going to be in contention for the week one starter,
08:59it's why I would want him to have played
09:01at least some snaps just to kind of get that feeling
09:04for whenever he does play.
09:05Because I think we all understand
09:06he's going to play at some point.
09:08I would also suggest, Carl, you know,
09:11it's the terrible nature of this injury
09:13that he suffered last year,
09:15which is going to just,
09:16there's always going to be this specter
09:18of it happening again, you know?
09:20And I think that for him,
09:21even when he goes into his career,
09:23whether it's a second contract with the Falcons
09:25or somebody else, I think that, like,
09:27that's going to be held over him a little bit.
09:29And he's going to have to play
09:30a long period of time without injuries
09:33before I think teams will maybe get over
09:35the risk of that.
09:36Because if you're going to pay a quarterback
09:37$50 million, you better make sure
09:39that they're going to be available for you
09:41every single week.
09:42And if they're, if they suffer,
09:44you know, a long-term injury,
09:45like Penix has a history of having,
09:47then that's going to tank your entire organization.
09:50So it's unfortunate for him.
09:52And I think it's just something
09:52that he's going to have to deal with.
09:54And it's going to make things
09:54a little bit trickier for him
09:55and how he navigates his career.
09:57And they didn't draft him.
09:58This is a different organization now,
09:59the way it's put together.
10:00Last thing for our man,
10:02Smokin' Joe Patrick,
10:03with our Falcon Camp Confidential,
10:04Zedarius Smith,
10:06he had to walk away from football.
10:07He explained very open personally
10:09about his life with his mom,
10:10her health issues,
10:11and how he was out there
10:13and then just hated being retired
10:14and now loves being back with the guys.
10:16Kind of reminds me a little bit
10:16of the kind of Calais Campbell vibe
10:18that he brought a couple years ago.
10:20Yeah, I definitely seem to have
10:22that kind of veteran presence of him
10:24like coming into a situation
10:25where he is kind of looked at as the leader
10:28and somebody who can share
10:29some of his experience
10:30with some of the younger guys.
10:32So you hope that he can do that.
10:33But I would recommend to anybody listening,
10:35at some point,
10:37go to Falcon's YouTube
10:38and check out his press conference
10:39because there's no way anybody
10:41can do it justice
10:42other than hearing it for yourself
10:43because of how open he was.
10:46And, you know,
10:47he broke down like a couple times
10:48just like, you know,
10:49had to take a second
10:50to collect himself
10:51because of how emotional it all was.
10:52But I think he's really happy
10:54to be back playing football.
10:55I agree.
10:56Joe Patrick, great work, man,
10:57as always.
10:57Follow him on social media
10:58and stay up with what's going on, man.
11:00And we will talk, obviously,
11:03leading up or after this game on Friday
11:04and seeing where this is
11:06as we get ready for the regular season.
11:07Can't wait for the regular season, Joe.
11:08Thanks again.
11:09I'll see you next time.
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