FLOWERY BRANCH — Michael Penix Jr., whom the team hoped was their quarterback of the future, will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a partially torn ACL in his left knee, the team announced Wednesday.
Amid five straight losses, the Falcons (3-7) turn to Kirk Cousins as the starter, with seven games remaining in the season, starting with Sunday’s matchup at the New Orleans Saints.
“So, as of today, we’ll have Kirk obviously as our starting quarterback,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said.
The Falcons will also sign quarterback Easton Stick to the 53-man roster from their practice squad. Quarterback Kyle Trask, a former second-round pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, will be signed to the practice squad.
The Falcons placed Penix, who had a 4-8 record over 12 starts, on injured reserve Monday after he hurt his left knee in Sunday’s loss to the Carolina Panthers. Following an MRI on Monday, they sought a second opinion, and further examination confirmed the severity of the injury.
Morris had spoken with Penix on Wednesday. He’s still with the team and set to have surgery soon.
“Obviously, it’s hard on the young man, tough on the young man (and) hard on all of us,” Morris said. “Tough injury that he’s got to go through.”
Penix had four previous season-ending injuries in college — including two on his right knee, one on his right shoulder and one on his left shoulder. The injury history was one of the major concerns when the Falcons drafted Penix with the eighth overall pick of the 2024 draft.
“But what we know of Mike and all the stuff that we’ve done from our research from all of the injuries, he’s come back stronger,” Morris said. “We feel really confident that this will be the same way. I have no doubt that Mike is going to attack this rehab and attack all of the things he has to get done to be ready for his team and ready to go.”
Under Penix, the offense had moved the ball (332.5 yards per game; 14th in the league), but struggled to score points (19.4, 27th). He did get the Falcons the lead late in the last two games, but the defense couldn’t hold.
The offense will undergo a makeover with Cousins as the starter.
“You do the things that Kirk can do well, but we’ll get to go out there and tailor things around Kirk,” Morris said. “All the things we want to be able to do with him. Some of (the) things that he’s done well in the past. Some of the things he’s done well with us. We’ll be able to do all of those things in order to go get a win.”
Cousins will have a say in the modified game plan.
“We’ll listen to him,” Morris said. “Take his input. Go out there and practice the things we need to get practiced. We’ll definitely tailor this offense, the rest of the way, around Kirk.”
The Falcons said they don’t have timetable for Penix’s return. The team only disclosed that he had a partially torn ACL; however, there is a possibility of PCL damage that the team called a bone bruise earlier in the season when he missed the Miami game.
“We don’t have a timetable,” Morris said. “You know, obviously everybody’s different. But it was really positive news from all the doctors that kind of looked at it. It’s been looked at multiple times by multiple doctors.”
Morris was asked if he expects Penix to be the starting quarterback for the 2026 season opener.
“It would be hard for me to say no right now,” Morris said. “I’ve got nothing but confidence in Mike bouncing back and doing the things he needs to do in order to get there, get to that point to go out there and playing for us.”
Morris said he didn’t know when the surgery would be performed.
“It will be sooner rather than later,” Morris said. “I know that. It’s not today. He’s here with us today. … We want to make sure we get those things underway with an effort to get him back as quickly as possible.”
The attention turns to Cousins, who entered in the third quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Panthers. Cousins was the starter last season before giving way to Penix, who started the last three games of the season.
With the Falcons in a tailspin losing streak, the team will have to rally around their new signal-caller and find a way to improve without their starting quarterback, along with their top receiver Drake London, who will miss this week’s game because of a knee injury.
“It hurts your heart when your quarterback goes down,” Morris said Monday. “Anybody on your football team, any of your guys. That’s definitely always one of those things that’s going to be hard for you. You’ve got to recenter. You’ve got to focus. … You’ve got to lean on other people, other places, to be able to find a way to get those things done. You’ve got really good football players here.”
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