1. The no-spin zone: The move to make Michael Penix Jr. the starting quarterback had to be tough on Falcons coach Raheem Morris, who was with Washington when Kirk Cousins was drafted in 2012.
“I brought Kirk in here with full expectations that we can win a championship and that we’ll be able to compete with Kirk,” Morris said. “For whatever reasons, whatever happened the last couple of weeks I just haven’t felt that way. ... It was time to make a change.”
Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson was asked about the decision to turn to Penix.
“Kirk has done a lot of great things here, and he’s got us to this position,” Robinson said. “We’re sitting at 7-7 because of Kirk. He’s played a lot of good football.”
The turnovers kept coming up as the main rationale for the decision to move to the rookie quarterback.
“He’d be the first to tell you the turnovers over the past handful of weeks have been tough, and there’s things that have been a little bit out of his character for what he’s shown in his career,” Robinson said. “Just felt like at this time, Mike gave us the best chance to win going forward.”
Penix will be counted on to take care of the ball Sunday against a 2-12 Giants team.
“(We) just felt like Mike was the best option going forward,” Robinson said.
Robinson believes that Penix running the scout team all season has helped him prepare for the starting job.
“Yeah, Mike takes all the scout-team reps like they’re game reps because that’s his reps that he gets throughout the week,” Robinson said. “He’s handled everything really well. He prepares the right way. He stands right behind Kirk in all the walk-throughs. You can tell how intentional he is.”
Penix is a student of the game.
“Every single time he’s in the meeting room, every time he’s out on the grass, he’s been nothing but an awesome teammate and (has provided) support for Kirk,” Robinson said. “He practices really well, whether it’s on the scout team or every once in a while we do a mamba period where we go twos on twos. He’s been productive — really dating back to even training camp.”
The Falcons know this is a risky move. Perhaps, they should have provided Penix with some of the first-team reps in case of this type of emergency.
“He had a great training camp, and he just continues to get better,” Robinson said. “He’s still a young player. There’s still going to be young mistakes that come up, he’s playing NFL football for the first time in meaningful action. So, we’ll take those as we get them. But, he’s done a great job preparing every single week.”
2. Full playbook: How much of the playbook can the Falcons use with a rookie quarterback making his first NFL start?
“Obviously, Mike’s got some different skill sets that you can activate as well,” Robinson said. “But, whatever he’s done at Washington and what we’ve seen out on the practice field, how it fits within our offense, we’ll definitely activate that this week.”
3. A-T-L takeover: Falcons fans took over Allegiant Stadium on Monday night.
Several thousand made the trip and were out and about in Las Vegas.
Some were for the Hawks game in the NBA Cup and stayed for the Falcons’ game.
After the safety, the fans were chanting, “A-T-L, A-T-L.”
“That was absolutely outstanding,” Morris said of the fan support. “Had a little “A-T-L” chant going there. I think I’ve seen some of our owners out there dancing and going along with those guys in the stands. I thought it was really well done by our fans, our guys, our people.”
The Hawks came up short in the NBA Cup semifinals game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday. The Bucks went on the claim the championship.
“The A-T-L is a sports town,” Morris said. “We want to make it that way. We want to find a way to go out there and win football games and win basketball games, to make it exciting. I think that’s part of what (Falcons owner) Arthur Blank does for our city.”
4. Cousins’ opening statement: Cousins addressed the media Wednesday, and here’s his opening statement:
“Coach let me know yesterday that we were going to make a change at quarterback. It’s pro football. There’s a standard that I have for myself, that the team has for me. Unfortunately, I wasn’t playing up to that standard consistently enough. …. You roll with it. You still get ready, one play away kind of thing. Support Mike and just try to help our team be able to find a way to win these last three to get into the playoffs.”
He went to get in a line about shooting the elephant in the room.
He also let it be known that he hasn’t forgotten how to play quarterback.
5. Koo to injured reserve: Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo, who has been struggling this season and aggravated an undisclosed injury, was placed on injured reserve Wednesday.
The Falcons signed Riley Patterson to the 53-man roster off the Browns practice squad. The Falcons released Tanner Brown from their practice squad.
Koo, who played at Georgia Southern, recently was on the injury report with a right hip injury.
Koo was questionable for the game against the Chargers on Dec. 1, but played. The normally dependable Koo, has missed nine field-goal attempts (25 of 34) this season. He made his career long, 58 yards, to beat the Saints at the buzzer on Sept. 29.
In the Week 10 loss to the Saints (20-17) on Nov. 10, he missed three field-goal attempts.
Patterson, 25, has played 41 games and has made 59 of 67 field-goal attempts, with a long of 53 yards. He also has made 97 of 101 extra-point attempts.
Patterson, who played at Memphis, is 6-foot and 190 pounds.
6. Hodge honored: Falcons wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge was named NFL special-teams player of the week.
Hodge had a blocked punt in the win over the Raiders on Monday. He also had a tipped punt.
7. Series history: This will be the 26th meeting between the Falcons and the Giants. The Falcons lead the series 14-12. The Falcons have won the past five meetings. The Falcons won the last meeting 17-14 on Sept. 26, 2021.
8. Where to watch, listen, livestream Giants at Falcons: What you should know about Sunday’s game between the Falcons (7-7) and Giants (2-12), which is set for 1 p.m. at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
TV: Fox. Play-by-play: Kevin Kugler. Analyst: Daryl Johnston. Reporter: Laura Okmin.
Local radio: 92.9 The Game. Play-by-play: Wes Durham. Analyst: Dave Archer. Executive producer: Beau Morgan. Engineer: Jake Cook. Pregame/Postgame show – Hosts: Chris Goforth and Mike Johnson. Dylan Matthews and Orin Romain (studio producers). Dylan Matthews (network studio producer) and Chris Thomas (local studio producer).
Satellite radio: SiriusXM NFL Radio. Falcons channels 225 and 801. Raiders 380 and 823.
Livestream: Fans in the Atlanta market can stream the game on the Atlanta Falcons app. NFL app (subscription required). Out of the country: GamePass International. There are several other subscription services.
9. Depth chart: Here’s a look at the Falcons’ official 53-man depth chart heading into Sunday’s game:
OFFENSE
QB: Michael Penix Jr., Kirk Cousins
RB: Bijan Robinson, Tyler Allgeier, Avery Williams, Carlos Washington Jr.
WR: Drake London
WR: Darnell Mooney, Casey Washington
SWR: Ray-Ray McCloud, KhaDarel Hodge
TE: Kyle Pitts
TE: Charlie Woerner, Ross Dwelley
LT: Jake Matthews, Brandon Parker
LG: Matthew Bergeron, Elijah Wilkinson
C: Drew Dalman, Ryan Neuzil
RG: Chris Lindstrom, Kyle Hinton
RT: Kaleb McGary, Storm Norton
DEFENSE
ROLB: Lorenzo Carter, DeAngelo Malone, Demone Harris
DE: Grady Jarrett, Zach Harrison
NT: Eddie Goldman, Kentavious Street, Ruke Orhorhoro
DE: David Onyemata, Brandon Dorlus
LOLB: Matthew Judon, Arnold Ebitketie
IL: Kaden Elliss, JD Bertrand, Rashaan Evans
ILB: Nate Landman
LCB: A.J. Terrell, Kevin King, Natrone Brooks
RCB: Mike Hughes, Clark Phillips III
NCB: Dee Alford, Antonio Hamilton Sr.
SS: Justin Simmons, Richie Grant
FS: Jessie Bates III
Special teams
K: Riley Patterson
P: Bradley Pinion
LS: Liam McCullough
KR: Avery Williams, Ray-Ray McCloud
PR: Avery Williams, Mike Hughes
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