Adam Schefter: 'When will Michael Penix Jr. play?!' will be asked SOONER than later! | NFL Live

so obviously Adam this has gotten a lot of attention since the Falcons made the pick last month how is it all going to work throughout this summer and this year listen you don't invest the money in kurk cousins that the Atlanta Falcons did and not expect him to be the starter but here's the issue Dan if Michael pennx all of a sudden lights up this drama isn't going away there's going to be more questions about when and if Michael Pennock is going to play because it wasn't like he was a second round pick or a third he was the e overall pick in the draft and usually top 10 picks find their way onto the football field sooner rather than later and so if Michael penck is what the Falcons thought then we may get some of those questions sooner than people expected or thought but the fact of the matter is they have a stabilizing force in Kirk Cousins who they paid A1 million in guaranteed money who you know is a fourth-time Pro Bowl quarterback and what did Kirk Cousins say about that quarterback room it's a major Force well there are major forces at play here with the quarterback position but as it's going to work Kirk Cousins is the starter Michael pennx is the two they have de at a position where they haven't had Dept since they traded away Matt Ryan to the Indianapolis Colts they fortified that position but it doesn't mean that the drama is just going to go away once the regular season rolls around and that's the question right cousins can say all he wants it's a working force we're working for each other and that sounds great Tim but like as somebody who's been in quarterback rooms in the NFL what is that Dynamic going to be like well I think the dynamic that Kirk's referring to is like what he expects the attitude of the quarterback room to be and he's obviously going to set it as the starter as the veteran and you know when he talked about it being a working force for one another and it being that way throughout his career look probably hasn't been that way every single year but I think it has been for the most part and I think he understands that the quarterbacks will all play better when they get their opportunity when it's the right Dynamic and Kirk has the right approach for it and I think the way that he answered questions about this I think give you a little bit of a glimpse into the type of guy he will be in the quarterback room like that's the reality of it he's been around long enough to see when it works well and when it doesn't um and I think he also knows this he's a master of this offense he could coach this offense he knows that he's going to play well in this offense with the guys around him and so he can say all of that with confidence and not having a look over his shoulders and the contract obviously helps as well I think more so than anything Michael penck being a top 10 pick and being drafted to this team is not necessarily about depth but it's about length and what do I mean by that really you could say longev Michael penck Jr is not the quarterback for now he's going to be the quarterback for the future AAR excuse me uh well if you want to go back to in Green Bay Aaron Rogers was the Star Quarterback MVP all of a sudden they get Jordan love not for now but for the future and fast forward a few years later Aaron Rogers is no longer in Green Bay but who is there Jordan love and he's lighting it up at least towards the last half of last season and expecting to light it up moving forward and so what I'm expecting from this team in this season is is for Michael penck Jr to catch some things from Kurt cousins we always say that more is caught than taught especially when you come to about kids and trying to teach them different things Michael penck Jr being in that quarterback room is going to learn how to be a pro learn how to run this offense learn how to take care of his body not for this year per se but for the years moving forward for longevity for this atanta Falcons offense it all sounds good but like when and when the Packers did it Aaron Rogers played at a a literal MVP level the first two years and kept Jordan love on the bench when the Chiefs did it Alex Smith won games and kept Patrick Mahomes on the bench if cousin doesn't play well and the Falcons don't win games we're going to revisit this I promise you that and in terms of how he expects to play Kirk Cousins also had some comments today on where he thinks the offense stands at this point in the off season reality is is we've got a long ways to go there there's not a lot of time on task together and we got to make up for that quickly and we have to have a sense of urgency about the way we practice work and communicate and meet and and so that's really what my reality is and for my teammates and uh we've got to get to a roughly Labor Day and feel like we have the screws tied down there's no question cousins is an upgrade over what they had last year they ranked 25th in the league in qbr last season and he was playing great obviously before he got hurt but Sam is the addition of cousins enough to make you believe that this Falcons team can be a legitimate Contender oh without a doubt it's it's enough to make me believe enough to make players on the Falcons believe I was talking with bejon Robinson their star running back a little earlier in the offseason he was so excited even before Kurt Cousins was signed he was hopeful that they would sign Kurt Cousins because he knows the potency of this offense bejan at running back Kyle pittz one of the best tight ends in the league young upcoming Star and then Drake London at receiver and oh by the way you go and you sign Darnell Mooney in free agency now you have a guy who can take the top off of a defense all you were missing was the quarterback position and now they have that quarterback and so whether I believe it or not doesn't matter what does matter is the people in that locker room believe the coaching staff believe and the players who he's going to pass it to hand it off to those guys believe as well listen they got a really good receiving core they got an you know well many people believe is an elite tight end many people believe is an elite Runner and I said it a second ago this is somebody that is a master of this offense like he's played the vast majority of his career in something that is pretty much identical to what he will do in Atlanta under new offensive coordinator Zack Robinson like Kurt Cousins could coach the offense and so sometimes when you see a quarterback change teams and they go to a new environment you wonder how that offense will fit them what they are going to do in Atlanta Kirk has proved that that he thrives in it and so listen I think that you can literally pencil him in around 4500 yards you know somewhere between 25 and 30 touchdowns and probably fewer than 10 interceptions like that is probably what you will get out of Kurt Cousins which Dan when you talk about what they experienced at quarterback a year ago is a massive upgrade and I think it makes them competitive I think quite honestly it probably makes them the favorite in their division as you guys mentioned uh no shortage of Talent on that Supporting Cast they now have a running back a wide receiver a tight end and a backup quarterback all of whom were taken in the top 10 of the NFL draft [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

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Id: WEbKZq5cpHA

Length: 7min 4sec (424 seconds)

Published: Tue May 14 2024