12:01pm: The Falcons will place Penix on IR, Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com report. Along with damage to his ACL, Penix aggravated a bone bruise and a knee sprain.
11:13am: Penix has a partial ACL tear and is expected to miss the rest of the season, according to Palmer.
9:55am: Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. suffered a potential season-ending knee injury in a 30-27 loss to the Panthers on Sunday, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports. Penix will go for a second opinion, but his chances of a 2025 return don’t look good. The Falcons believe Penix is done for the season, per James Palmer of The Athletic.
It seemed likely that Penix would miss at least some time when he exited early on Sunday. However, a possible season-ending injury comes as a surprise. Penix previously sat out a game this year with a bone bruise in his left knee, which he re-injured against Carolina. Kirk Cousins, who replaced Penix, will take over for the foreseeable future.
The Falcons used the eighth overall pick in the 2024 draft on Penix, a stunning move after they signed Cousins to a four-year, $180MM deal with $100MM in guarantees in free agency.
Penix entered NFL with a couple of major knee injuries in his past. Then with Indiana, Penix suffered season-ending right ACL tears in both 2018 and ’20. The southpaw finished his college career with a pair of healthy and productive seasons as a Washington Huskie, leading the Falcons to take a chance on him in the first round.
Penix began his NFL career as Cousins’ backup, but the Falcons switched to the heir apparent late last season. After starting 7-7 under Cousins, the team replaced him with Penix. While Atlanta lost two of its final three games en route to an 8-9 finish, Penix showed head coach Raheem Morris enough to grab the reins as the team’s unquestioned starter entering this season. The demoted Cousins wanted out in the offseason, whether via trade or release. The Falcons wound up retaining him.
With Penix at the helm for all but one game this season, the Falcons have stumbled to a disappointing 3-7 record. Penix has underwhelmed at the head of an offense that ranks 18th in passing and 27th in scoring. He has completed 60.1% of passes for 1,982 yards, nine touchdowns, and three interceptions. The 25-year-old ranks 17th in the league in QBR and 23rd in passer rating.
It remains to be seen whether Penix’s injury will be severe enough to affect his availability for any of 2026. In the meantime, the Falcons will turn back to Cousins. The Falcons gambled on a Cousins mega-deal despite the fact that he suffered a torn Achilles midway through his final season with the Vikings in 2023.
Cousins, who had been prolific passer throughout his career with Washington and Minnesota, hasn’t recaptured his old form since moving to Atlanta. In his lone start this year, a 34-10 loss to Miami in Week 8, Cousins went 21 for 31 for 173 yards. He finished a lackluster 6 for 14 for 48 yards in relief of Penix in Week 11.
Having lost five in a row to fall to 13th place in the NFC, the Cousins-led Falcons will need a miraculous run to earn a playoff berth. To worsen matters, Cousins will go at least one week without the Falcons’ No. 1 receiver, Drake London, who sprained his PCL against Carolina. London won’t play in New Orleans this Sunday, and it’s possible he’ll miss more time after that, per Rapoport.
Well thats a wrap for 2025 season….see the Falcons next year when we get to do it all over again smh.
This is a shame….1st because he is injured and second if Michael P stayed in the entire game yesterday .. they would have beaten the Panthers!
Wasn’t that the biggest knock against him coming into the draft was his durability? Seems like it might have been a legitimate concern.
Ehh, guys blow their knees out in the NFL all the time. Everyone is injury prone.
Yes true, except he didn’t blow his knee/knees out in the NFL except for this one….all the rest (and there were multiple ones) were in his college career which supports the comment of somewhat damaged goods/durability questions entering the draft.
Yeah, he was an older prospect who didn’t look great most of his college career and had two ACL tears behind him. I thought it was wild to take him in the top ten, but he does have a great arm.
Arm….maybe but the arm bone is somewhere connected to the leg bone which is connected to the knee bone….get my drift?
Agreed with Oooof,the surprise wasn’t just because they’d just signed Cousins, it was also because Penix wasn’t a first round prospect.
How does the GM still have a job? Botched QB room and coaching staff again.
How does anyone still have a job there (including McKay)?????
Terry Fontenot : “I’m shocked that Michael Penix Jr. could sustain a season ending injury. There is absolutely nothing in his college history that would predict this.”
I’m looking forward to the charade of “mutual affection” that the Falcons front office and Kirk Cousins present to everyone 🙂
So who’s making fun of Terry Fontenot for signing Kirk Cousins now? With Penix going down the Falcons have a starting level QB ready to take over and guide the team to the playoffs! Worth every penny of his contract.