- 49 minutes ago
Following a brutal Week 1 performance, Joe Patrick joins Chris Thomas Tonight and breaks down why Michael Penix Jr. needs to recognize his potential impact and step up as the Falcons' starting quarterback. With Tua Tagovailoa sidelined, Penix's mindset and confidence could be the key to turning close losses into victories.
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00:00what were your biggest takeaways from the game let's start with some positives because i the
00:05rest of this conversation let's just be honest is going to be what it needs to be so i thought
00:09i
00:10thought the defense played pretty well i a couple of guys that i think we need to discuss like what
00:16the heck happened to aj terrell and you know some things in the secondary that weren't great but
00:22other than that i thought the defense played well obviously bajon robinson played out of his mind as
00:27usual um but all in all joe just give us your thoughts on the on the first game yeah i
00:34mean
00:34bajon i i didn't actually think it was that surprising that he was able to produce the
00:38way he did the way he was getting fed because he just does it man and i gotta say he
00:42kind of
00:43reminded me in this game and i think part of it is because he knew he was going to get
00:46a heavy
00:46workload um and he's trying to self-preserve you know but he has and any any longtime falcon fan
00:54will kind of get me on this is a little bit of work done to him as the way that
00:59he picks up some
01:00added yards as he's going to ground which i really appreciate it always feels like he kind of gets
01:06two or three more yards right at the end of his carries that can really help uh tommy reese in
01:11terms
01:12like the down and distance stuff and calling these games now tommy reese was kind of put in a near
01:16impossible position with what he had at quarterback this week and obviously that's what we're going to
01:20talk a lot about in this conversation and that was i mean honestly it was one of my making takeaways
01:24chris was that it was just one of the most dreadful games to watch in general i mean if you
01:29i don't know
01:30if you saw like the the epa it's like there were only 30 games in nf in nfl history in
01:35the epa era
01:36at least since i'm keeping that metric um that had fewer basically points basically the offensive
01:43performances were about the 30th worst of any nfl game that's the that's the bare bones way to say it
01:49but uh and we could all see that but you know you do have to give the falcons defense a
01:53lot of
01:53credit i mean i thought those guys were whipping steelers ass up front like on that defensive front
01:59it was really good to watch and see guys like mason smith really being disruptive on the interior
02:05even saw a little bit of uh javon dexter too obviously the darius smith gets his couple sacks
02:10the first sack he had was really really good i watched it back earlier today he like makes a move
02:16and forces rogers out of the pocket before smith then chases rogers down and gets the sack so
02:22really good to see that that bit from him and you know he had the two sacks i think on
02:27only 16 defensive
02:28snaps so already surpassing what he had done in the four games i think that he played last year
02:33and uh and you know certainly that would put him in set up for a good season and frankly with
02:38what we
02:38saw from this offense i mean this defense is going to have to continue to perform at somewhat close to
02:45this level that we saw um you know it's not going to be easy i frankly think the steelers should
02:50be a
02:50little bit even more worried about their team than falcons considering what the falcons were dealing
02:54with at the quarterback position in this game but uh you know overall it i mean it's it's kind of
03:00a
03:00shame that the quarterback conversation really does take so much importance and genuinely did cost the
03:06falcons in this game because there was a lot of other good stuff that happened let's just put it
03:11bluntly joe cooper rush can't start another game for the falcons right yeah totally yeah but i was
03:17just thinking about it like you know they do the the the player introduction warm-ups like if cooper
03:23rush is starting in the starting quarterback let's just say that it is they're they're introducing the
03:27defensive players and the offensive player is going to be making that tunnel for them to run out
03:32through because there's no way they're going to say it's starting quarterback cooper rush you know
03:36in front of the whole stadium i can't believe that they would do that so um yeah i mean it's
03:42i mean
03:42the good especially with the back spasms that the falcons reported he was dealing with over the
03:48weekend i mean he only threw the ball more than six yards past the line of scrimmage five times
03:54chris like you just can't you can't win like that and that's why i say i can't i sympathize with
03:59what tommy reese was dealing with because it felt like we literally saw basically every way imaginable
04:05they could get the ball in the hands of john robinson because that was the only way they
04:10were going to win but ultimately to me chris i don't know if you felt like this but even though
04:14the score was close it because of the level of quarterback play that we were seeing throughout
04:19the game it just never really felt like the falcons actually had a chance to like march down the field
04:26and score a game winning or game tying touchdown that they would have needed at that point it just never
04:31felt realistic i tweeted it at the time i said they're down 10 but it feels like they're down 30
04:36with the way yeah with the way the offense is operating um okay so let's look to what the
04:43situation is that they're that we're dealing with we don't know what kevin stefancy is going to say
04:48tomorrow but if michael pennix and tua are in the same relative spot that they were this time last week
04:57in terms of availability um do you have to bring in somebody out like what do they even do
05:06yeah i mean i i mean i would say you know i'm kind of joking in the last one saying
05:11like oh they
05:12can't start super rush can they well no they they definitely could and i think stefanski is um
05:19like he would do it like if he felt like it was the right call the right thing for the
05:23team and
05:23everything i think he would do it i don't think he wants to do it you know obviously especially
05:27after what he saw in week one uh but he doesn't really have any other options like they're just
05:32there just aren't other options that they can go to other than you know hoping they listen they said
05:38that to talk about low his oblique strain was going to be day-to-day for him so um there's
05:44the
05:44possibility that they say you know tua's feeling better and we're hoping that he can do some practice
05:49and then you know get himself ready for the game but obviously i think the biggest one is michael
05:54pennix jr who's like i think that was the thing and obviously there's been a lot of conversation
05:58chris i know that you know this about like how these guys were looking uh on the sidelines when
06:04they were on camera and i gotta say the way it struck me was i don't care if they're laughing
06:09or
06:09smiling during a game like um it is what it is like we don't even know the context of that
06:14it's
06:14totally normal for you know injured players basically to be acting that way on on a sideline
06:20it's not to say they weren't serious at times either it's just when the camera happened to be
06:24on them but it but it's different when with michael and michael pennix's situation we know that it's
06:30not a bodily injury that's preventing him from being on the field and so i would hope that he would
06:37feel
06:37like okay because what he said going into the week one game and the reason why he didn't feel like
06:43he was ready to play is because it wouldn't be fair to the team that he wouldn't be able to
06:48give
06:48them what maybe another quarterback on the roster could at that point to a time by loa was still
06:53healthy in the starting quarterback but now i i certainly hope that michael pennix thinks
06:58sees that performance on sunday and thinks i can make a difference you know i can be the difference for
07:04this team and i could have maybe even been the difference for this team in this game between it
07:08being a win and a loss because of course i felt like the plays were there to be made and
07:12if they had
07:12even decent quarterback play in this game it's a win for the falcons you know especially if they
07:17if nick folk makes his kicks well that's okay if you convert the kyle pitts play and then you get
07:23the six points back from folk you win the game i mean yeah literally yeah i mean that's one play
07:30yeah and one play you make and just to there's nothing even to like there's not even worth me asking
07:36you a question about it joe it's just really sort of unimaginably like just awful horrendous that like
07:45nick folk comes out and misses his first two kicks it's it's literally like there's nothing to even
07:49dissect or break down about it it's just it's almost just laugh so you don't cry exactly what you just
07:56did just like laugh so you don't cry you have to that's it just imagining like you know the falcons
08:04key decision makers whether it's matt ryan or the ownership or whoever just banging their head
08:08against the wall when they see that like what can we do because you know you gotta say like
08:13they made the right like they did the right everybody did the right thing there except for
08:17nick folk you know and that is a rarity he the last time he had missed two kicks in a
08:21game was in 2022
08:22i think he's only done it one other time in his career of course he's only missed three total the
08:27last
08:27three seasons so but it's just one of those things that makes you shake your head and think that
08:31you're cursed or something and that's just that's unfortunately what this organization
08:35has to shake right now you know like for other organizations like the eagles or whatever it's
08:40like it's the opposite and they probably feel like all right well everything's gonna work out in the
08:43end and like we have this kind of culture um and environment in our building and our fan base that
08:50like we're gonna rally together we're gonna get it done and the falcons have you know it's been so long
08:55since they've been winners that that's what it's going to take a special team chris i think i really think
09:00to
09:00like get this team to where they all want to be because they have to fight through some of these
09:07just deeply ingrained things whether it is real or whether it's kind of you know mythical like feeling
09:13like you can never have a reliable kicker around here talking all things dirty birds with our buddy
09:18joe patrick make sure you check out joe patrick on football wherever you get your pods do you think
09:23now i don't want to go wacky conspiracy theory here on you joe here but i'm gonna kind of do
09:29it
09:29um what do you think based on everything you've been able to gather here do you think there's a
09:36chance that the falcons thought once penix was cleared he was gonna play or do you think they
09:44knew all along that even once he was cleared there was a chance that it was going to be the
09:51situation
09:51that it is now do you think there's any way to know i don't think we would i you know
09:57i don't know
09:58unless we hear it from somebody at some point and maybe we will in the future at some point i
10:03don't
10:04know but there's just no way i can say but i would say that i think the falcons were certainly
10:10hoping
10:11i think frankly michael pennix's return just like his physical recovery was faster than the falcons
10:17expected so like ultimately i don't think the falcons would have originally thought that michael pennix
10:22would have really legitimately been in contention for for him to be the starting quarterback at this
10:27point in time that's why you go out and get a veteran quarterback like to talk about loa who
10:30you feel like can reliably hold things down for you for the first part of the season until he returns
10:36you know and of course what the the the unreliability that to talk about loa has is the injuries which
10:42of
10:42course have come to rear their ugly head but as fate would have it michael pennix's body actually
10:46allowed him to recover but i don't think they would have foreseen him just want to like you know
10:51preferring to not return to the field until he's kind of feeling more confident feeling more mental
10:58clarity with what he's doing um just because i don't feel like that's something that any coaching
11:03staff would would expect from from anybody but obviously you can't force a player out on the
11:09field and so i think that they want him to get comfortable as soon as they can it's kind of
11:13like
11:13you know i think and i think that as soon as he feels that way he's going to be playing
11:16quarterback
11:16for them and that's how much they believe in his ability and what he brings to the table to be
11:21able
11:21to execute what tommy reese wants to run yeah i'm just i'm just sitting here thinking like they
11:27couldn't have thought this would have been the like what they have to work with right like i hope not
11:34like i hope they thought that once pennix was cleared it was going to be like all right he might
11:39not play in the miami preseason game but if we got like a two and a half three weeks to
11:45get him ready
11:45to go like that should be plenty of time right but yeah and i think that my i think the
11:52miami
11:52preseason game was probably more the falcons call of course we don't really know but like that would
11:57have been more normal for like their protocols in terms of like getting players ramped up and
12:01acclimated and everything to pretty much to hold somebody out if they have only started practicing
12:06um for like three practices basically up until that point but now i think it's pretty clear uh and the
12:13reporting has kind of indicated this from the national reporters that like they're trying to
12:17get him up not up to speed they're trying to get him feeling like he's ready to play when i
12:21asked
12:22kevin stefanski about why the delay why wait until monday of week one of the season to you know and
12:28announce that to talk about low as your starter he said that it was to gain as much information as
12:33possible and i think that that information was kind of like information about whether mike was going
12:39to michael pennix was going to be able to play for them in week one and uh you know ultimately
12:44they
12:44just couldn't kind of get him over that hurdle but again i i really i certainly hope that he would
12:48have he sees what happened here and is and is feeling more antsy to to get back on the field
12:53and
12:54contribute and it will be very interesting i would say if well if he's listening if he was being
12:59truthful on that cam newton podcast joe then he's not yeah i know yeah and then that's what it
13:06comes out if he's really gonna do that and really gonna you know whether whether that was just you
13:12know podcast banter between the two of them or if that's really his mindset then he's putting the
13:18name on the back of the jersey in front of the name on on the front of the jersey that's
13:22just what
13:22he's doing yeah yeah and i can't i can't help but think about matt ryan you know and how much
13:27he fought through injuries throughout his entire career you know to always be on the field for the team
13:32and um and just the mentality and the competitive nature that he has and and what he thinks about
13:37this situation obviously it's going to be uh it's a very important opinion that will be held inside
13:42the flowery branch there all right before i let you go i never thought i'd see the day where we'd
13:47be
13:47able to squeeze in a note about a practice squad player but to me this is an important one joe
13:52oh yeah tyler goodson's off the team i mean yeah the fact that he wasn't on the team in the
13:57first
13:58place was a little bit curious but you're like okay they had to cover four quarterbacks now with
14:03the quarterback situation the way that it is as much as you had to use bajon robinson in week one
14:08you would have thought heck you know that's the exact guy we need right now now they don't have them
14:14yeah and you know ian cunningham was the one who really when he was asked about you know kind of
14:19the roster build kind of really juxtaposed on his own unprompted like the four quarterbacks
14:25is kind of the like it's he didn't say it exactly like this but like he's like yeah we'll keep
14:29four
14:30quarterbacks well we have two running backs he kind of like put it up against each other
14:33like that um which is true i think maybe i would say like what about one of these defensive backs
14:39like is one of these defensive backs so good they need to be on the 53 man roster and you
14:42leave
14:42yourself you know short and kind of playing with fire a little bit at that running back position hoping
14:47that you don't that he is not snapped up but um you know it just feels like a little bit
14:52like of
14:53the icarus situation you just fly a little bit too close to the sun try to get a little too
14:56cute
14:56and you get a player you know snatched away from you now they can always potentially get him back
15:01later in the season who knows but hey for the uh for the immediate future it's good for cash jones
15:05now he's i frankly now that this is that but i wonder if they may feel like they need to
15:11secure him
15:11and might you know be more proactive in the current situation because it's getting really scary now you
15:17only got like two guys plus uh an undrafted free agent rookie and cash jones yeah i mean you know
15:23the the nathan carters of the world the carlos washington's of the world that's those aren't
15:28those aren't guys that are going to factor in you would think at this point you know considering
15:31where they're at in their nfl careers they decided those guys weren't as important and you would have
15:37thought a guy like tyler goodson would have been really important but hey plays out the way it plays
15:43out all right what he was on special teams you know uh craig ackerman was like you know really
15:48praising him especially like the mentality he had and everything so yeah it's a bit of a shock
15:53one i gotta say yeah same for me i would have thought he would have had a role on this
15:57offense
15:57for sure all right joe i'm sure our conversation next week will be equally as interesting considering
16:02carolina you know scored 45 points last week and you know yeah and brand uh it's not like bryce
16:08young doesn't like the falcons up anyway so i'm sure this will be great all right joe we'll talk to
16:13you
16:13next week
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