FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Atlanta Falcons quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is using organized team activities to handle the bulk of the first-team snaps while Michael Penix Jr. continues his recovery from surgery on his left knee.
However, with Penix having already made enough progress to participate in individual drills, the competition between left-handed passers for the starting job may come sooner than expected.
“Shoot, I’m impressed by what he’s shown out there,” Tagovailoa, a seventh-year pro preparing for his first season in Atlanta, said Wednesday of what he has seen in the first two weeks of this phase of the NFL offseason from Penix, the No. 8 pick of the 2024 draft who has started a dozen games for the Falcons.
“Of course, you can just tell that he’s been here working, and working really hard to be able to get back out there, and you can see the level of respect that the guys that have been here last year with him have for him, both offense and defensively,” Tagovailoa added. “… So it’s been good fun to go out there and compete with him. You know, I’m trying to help him as much as I can as well.”
As OTAs began last week, the Falcons released a video of Penix taking a snap under center, dropping back and completing a pass to Drake London. It was a surprise to many that Penix was available for even limited portions of practice after having surgery in November to repair the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.