After floundering his rookie season, Penix was named the Day 1 starter in Year 2, but he struggled with his accuracy, especially under pressure, and the offense looked frazzled at times. He suffered a torn ACL in Week 11 after a nine-down start. He finished with 1,982 yards and nine touchdowns in three interceptions with a 60.1 completion percentage on 276 attempts in 2025.
The Falcons turned to lefty Tua Tagovailoa after he was released from Miami this offseason to compete for the starting gig. Before that competition gets into full swing, the Falcons must first get Penix fully healthy.
While the third-year pro won’t yet participate in team drills, Stefanski said the backs will alternate first-team reps in all other actions.
“Very intentional,” he said of how he plans to split reps. “I think that’s our job, I guess.” [offensive coordinator] Tommy Rees does an excellent job of making sure we are intentional about how we want this to work. One guy will be up first one season and then switch to the next season and switch every single day in almost every practice – because the truth is we’re trying to get the best version of all our players, so we want to mix up guys in different positions.”
With Penix taking a step forward, the next test will be whether he can participate in team drills during mandatory minicamp, 16-18. June