FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Atlanta Falcons starting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and No. 1 wide receiver Drake London are both day to day going into Sunday’s road game against the New England Patriots, coach Raheem Morris said Wednesday.
Both players missed this past weekend’s 34-10 home loss to the Miami Dolphins, with Atlanta’s second straight setback dropping its record to 3-4.
The Patriots have won five games in a row to get to 6-2 under first-year head coach Mike Vrabel, a former New England linebacker who coached the Tennessee Titans from 2018-23.
Penix has been dealing with a bone bruise in his left knee. Morris was more optimistic about his availability this week.
“Michael is in the building, obviously in meetings. He’ll go out there today and do a walk-through. We’ll get a chance to get a feel for what he can do in practice, if he can do anything,” Morris said. “He feels better than he did last week. Obviously he feels better every single day with it being a bone bruise. That stuff gets better every day. So I feel really good about him.”
Penix participated in Wednesday’s walk-through and feels encouraged about his status this week.
“I felt really good at practice today,” he said. “I’m still on that day-to-day protocol, but after today, you know, I do feel good. I feel like I’m trending in the right direction.”
The second-year pro was hopeful about playing against the Dolphins on Sunday morning before eventually being ruled out.
“Things just didn’t pan out how I thought. I felt good coming in that morning, but you know, just some things were happening to where I wasn’t feeling my best,” Penix said. “Just me thinking about the team, I don’t feel like me being out there on Sunday would have helped the team. I feel like I wouldn’t have been able to give the team 100%, and that’s what I want to do each and every time I step on the field.”
Backup quarterback Kirk Cousins filled in and was 21-of-31 passing for 173 yards in a game in which Atlanta’s offense struggled and finished with 213 total yards.
London was ruled out with a hip injury. The fourth-year wideout leads the team in receiving yards with 469 this season.
“Drake is in the building, feels good, planning on practicing,” Morris said. “Get a chance to look at him moving around a little bit today. Those guys both are day to day but a lot better than they felt last week.”