FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — When Falcons head coach Raheem Morris was asked how many reps Michael Penix Jr. had with the starters, his answer was simple: "Not much."
Penix has spent his first week of practice as Atlanta's starting quarterback becoming more comfortable throwing to the team's top receivers, including Drake London, Darnell Mooney and Kyle Pitts. Penix isn't the only one adjusting to this new reality. His receivers are preparing for him, too, especially since Penix is a left-handed quarterback.
Mooney, who played with a left-handed quarterback when he was a senior in high school, knows all too well that this small difference will impact what he sees on the field. Mooney felt he needed a refresher.
"Once I got the information, I called my high school quarterback," Mooney said. "I told him, 'Come to the house. We got to get the reps in so I can see this ball in the air.'"
Left-handed passes look different traveling through the air because the rotation on the ball is reversed, and it feels different when it hits a receiver's hands. As perhaps the Falcons' biggest deep-ball threat, Mooney wanted to put in extra effort to get reacquainted with that difference.
London and running back Bijan Robinson are also left-handed, so it's not a rarity among all NFL players, but very few quarterbacks are lefties. Prior to this week, there was just one left-handed starting quarterback currently in the NFL: Tua Tagovailoa of the Miami Dolphins. Now, Penix makes it two.
Wide receiver Chris Blair has gotten much more play with Penix as a member of the Falcons' practice squad. It took Blair a couple of weeks to confidently get used to the reversed spin.
"You have to lock in on the ball," Blair said. "You're so used to a right-handed quarterback when the ball hits your hands you can catch it confidently, and then turn up the field. But, with Mike, you have to kind of focus in a little bit more. But it'll be OK. It became natural because we had so many reps together, so it made it a lot easier."
When Falcons quarterbacks coach T.J. Yates began coaching Penix in May, it was initially tough to flip everything in his mind. Fortunately, that was nothing new to his quarterback.
"Mike can understand it a little bit when I accidentally say something from a right-hand perspective," Yates said in the offseason. "He's like, 'Yeah, gotcha. I've been dealing with this my whole life.'"
Yates has had six months to get accustomed to coaching his first left-handed quarterback, but the rest of the starting offense has gotten a crash course in getting comfortable with Penix. Mooney said he hadn't caught a pass from Penix until this week, which is not unusual for a starting receiver and backup quarterback. But that's no longer the dynamic at play.
In preparation for facing the New York Giants, the Falcons had a walk-through on Wednesday, practices on Thursday and Friday, and will conduct a standard walk-through Saturday. Offensive coordinator Zac Robinson said the whole playbook will be available against the Giants. After all, Penix has been studying the scheme since he arrived during rookie minicamp.
It also helps that Kirk Cousins and Penix can play from within the pocket. Penix may be able to scramble more than Cousins, but the rookie is still comfortable staying behind the offensive line. The offensive staff had that in mind when they drafted Penix as their future quarterback and felt the eventual transition would be "extremely seamless."
The offense went through about 70 plays in Wednesday's walk-through. To continue to bridge the reps gap, Penix has also spent time getting in extra throws with the top receivers after practice.
"We got to do that in order to make him feel [comfortable] and to make us feel comfortable as well," London said. "At the end of the day, it is a different spin, [and] he's got heat on that ball, so you got to be able to catch it."
While Penix may be getting up to speed with Atlanta's first-team weapons, he's gotten plenty of work against the defensive starters. It started in training camp when the ones would face the twos. During the season, Penix has faced the first-team defense during his scout-team reps. In those periods, he's seen complex blitzes and different packages the defense might deploy against their next opponent.
Defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake said there have been "thousands" of moments where he's seen Penix excel in those moments.
"Me and Mike had a laugh about a few times," Lake said. "This was back in training camp, and I brought an exotic blitz that normally people don't bring. ... We actually got it on video with him because we got the helmet camera on, and I have the video coverage of him actually. Like, he's talking after the play. It was pretty funny. So, brought an exotic blitz, and normally, a corner wouldn't blitz from this position. Mike felt it and ripped a 15, 18-yard out to the sideline, completed it for a first down. He looked at the sideline and he says, 'Oh, don't do that, Coach Lake, and he started laughing.' And that's a moment that I remember where I was like, 'Okay, he can see it.' Obviously, the talent. He could rip this ball anywhere across the field."
Safety Jessie Bates III had a similar experience when going against Penix in practice. Bates said Penix "pops off the tape." Bates would watch film of scout team reps back and think, "Oh, that's a crazy throw right there."
Bates and Penix are neighbors in the locker room. Oftentimes, Penix would pick the two-time All-Pro's mind about defense. Penix would consistently ask Bates, "How are y'all playing this coverage? Does everyone run this coverage like this?" In those moments, Bates discerned Penix's intelligence for the game and his willingness to learn and prepare as a backup. It's why Bates is confident in Penix when he makes his NFL starting debut Sunday.
"Mike does a good job of picking it up and identifying what we're trying to do as a defense. That just shows you itself that he's ready," Bates said. "Just going out there and not running his offense and just running the (scouting) cards and still having success against our defense. I think that says a lot. So, I'm excited for his opportunity. I think he'll thrive in it."
