Michael Penix Jr. didn’t need to say much at mandatory minicamp to put a spotlight on what changed for him this offseason.
Speaking to the media, the 26-year-old told ESPN’s Marc Raimondi that the Falcons’ new coaching staff is stressing footwork, an area he previously struggled with. And in the process, he made clear that the message is landing differently now than it did before.
"I feel like it's just a lot of time put into it," Penix said about footwork. "It's always something that's being pointed out in routes. ...
If you're off time and it's always like they let you know, 'Hey, you got to pick up your feet or take your time a little bit on this drop, you got to work through your progression.' Just stuff like that.
So, I feel like it's just something that is talked about more than it was."
That’s the key line: "more talked about than it was". Penix didn’t have to spell out the comparison for it to be obvious. The third-year quarterback was describing a staff that is drilling the details, and by extension, a previous setup that apparently wasn’t doing that enough.
The Falcons now have Kevin Stefanski, Tommy Rees, Tanner Engstrand, and Alex Van Pelt working with Penix, and the difference is already showing up in the way he talks about his development. Van Pelt and company are making footwork a constant point of emphasis, something Penix says wasn’t happening to the same degree before.
That matters for a quarterback trying to take the next step. Penix has a career completion rate below 60% in two seasons playing for Zac Robinson, and if he wants to beat out Tua Tagovailoa for the Dirty Birds’ Week 1 starting quarterback job, that number needs to climb. Getting the feet right is the first piece of that puzzle.
Robinson’s approach left Penix in a tough spot, and the footwork comment only adds to the case that the former offensive coordinator’s handling of the quarterback room fell short. Now, with a new staff in place, Penix is getting the kind of instruction that should have been there all along.
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