Michael Penix left Sunday night with more than just a loss on the board.
The Falcons quarterback watched the ending of a 30-23 overtime defeat to the Ravens from the sideline after dealing with a rib injury, and his availability came down to how bad the pain felt as the game dragged on. Penix had briefly returned for one snap late in regulation after absorbing a hard shot from Ravens linebacker Tavius Robinson, then came back to throw an incompletion before Atlanta punted on the final play of the fourth quarter.
By the time overtime arrived, the Falcons had already lost their chance to decide things on their terms. Baltimore got the ball first, scored with 2:57 left, and then Tua Tagovailoa came back in before throwing the interception that ended it.
Penix said afterward that if Atlanta had opened overtime with the ball, he believed he could have stayed in. But the injury worsened as he sat on the sideline.
“It just started to get worse and worse as we were sitting there,” Penix said. Because of that, he “did not feel like I was going to be able to give our team what we needed to be able to win that football game because of the pain that I was feeling.”
More testing is still coming, but Penix made clear he doesn’t expect this to turn into a long absence.
“Knowing me, I am going to be ready to go next week because I’ve sat out enough in my career,” Penix said, via the team’s website. “I am going to do everything I can in the training room to make sure I get back to where I want to be. . . . I will work my tail off to make sure I’m back out there on that field.”
Before the injury tightened its grip on the game, Penix had turned in a solid night, going 19-of-32 for 240 yards and a touchdown. The loss was Atlanta’s first since he returned to the lineup in Week 3, and the Falcons will now wait to see whether he can suit up against the Bears next Sunday.
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Falcons Let A Winnable SNF Game Slip Away In Painful Fashion
Sunday night had the feel of a game Atlanta could and should have controlled, until Baltimore kept hanging around long enough to turn it into an overtime escape. Tyler Huntley, filling in at quarterback, guided the Ravens through a 30-23 win with a late rally that stunned the Falcons and wiped out what had been a winnable prime-time stage. Derrick Henry added 102 rushing yards, while Huntley was efficient throwing the ball, completing 24 of 32 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns.
The Falcons offense was already trying to close out the night when Michael Penix Jr. exited late in the fourth quarter with a rib injury, a shift that changed the feel of the final minutes and left Atlanta searching for answers. Baltimore then finished the job after Tua Tagovailoa took over in overtime, and the game slipped away in the kind of painful fashion that makes a loss linger well beyond the final whistle. [Read more 🡒]
Jessie Bates Gave Falcons Fans The Prime-Time Spark They Wanted
The Falcons got the kind of early defensive jolt that can change the feel of a prime-time game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, with Jeff Ulbrichs unit making its presence known against Baltimore on Sunday night. Atlantas defense had already shown it could make life uncomfortable for the Ravens, which were adjusting to life without Lamar Jackson and turning to Tyler Huntley at quarterback.
Jessie Bates then delivered the moment that really lit up the building, jumping on a Mark Andrews fumble and taking it back for a touchdown. It was the sort of splash play Falcons fans were hoping for under the lights, the kind that can swing momentum in an instant and give the home crowd something to hang onto as the night unfolded. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons Now Face A Bigger Worry Than That Ravens Loss
The Falcons left Baltimore with a loss, but the bigger concern for Atlanta may have come late in the fourth quarter, when Michael Penix Jr. took a hard hit and needed to be checked for a rib injury. The rookie quarterback was able to come back in and finish the drive, which at least offered some immediate relief after a 30-23 defeat that had already put the team in a tough spot.
Even so, Penixs status for the next game is now the story to watch, and that gives the injury more weight than the final score alone. Atlanta can absorb a loss in October, but it is much harder to navigate one if the quarterback situation suddenly becomes uncertain, especially with the offense trying to keep momentum in a season that still has plenty left to sort out. [Read more 🡒]