After a stellar final season with the Washington Huskies that saw him finish second in voting for the Heisman Trophy and get selected No. 8 overall by the Atlanta Falcons, Michael Penix Jr. hardly imagined he’d be spending his rookie season on the bench.
However, because the Falcons had signed veteran Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180-million deal six weeks prior, that’s where he’s found himself to start his NFL career.
In a conversation with SportsCasting.com’s DJ Siddiqi, Penix described the adjustment to his new role.
“It’s not much of a mental adjustment; obviously, it’s just physical,” Penix said. “You’re not out there. I still have the same mentality, just make sure I’m ready each and every day as if I was a starter. I’m always going to be ready. Mental aside, I still have that drive and determination to be great. In order to do that, I have to be ready for my moment. So I stay ready.”
Penix has been ready for his moment on a Falcons team that has struggled at times and has appeared in two games in his first season. He made his NFL debut against his former offensive coordinator, Ryan Grubb, and the Seattle Seahawks and also showed up briefly at the end of a blowout loss to the Denver Broncos.
But as he waits his turn, Penix said he’s plenty learned from the veteran Cousins, who is in the midst of season No. 13 and was reportedly shocked when Atlanta selected the former Washington star.
“We didn’t really talk about the draft,” he said. “It happened, there’s nothing we can do about it. Our conversations are all ball, things that will help our team win football games, and he’s been a great person in the quarterback room. Anytime I have a question, he has answers, he asks me questions, and I’ll have answers. We work together. At the end of the day, our goal is to help this team win football games.”
Read Penix’s full interview with DJ Siddiqi here.