FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Boy, oh boy. Has it been a freaking week.

I am sure you're wondering why there wasn't a Tuesday Mailbox and why the Thursday Mailbox is coming on Friday. Well, isn't it obvious? There was news to break.

The Falcons have made a change at the quarterback position for the third year in a row. They have replaced Kirk Cousins with Michael Penix Jr., who will make his first NFL start since the Falcons drafted him No. 8 overall this offseason. It goes without saying that myself, Will McFadden and our entire editorial team has been hella busy since returning from Las Vegas at 6 o'clock in the morning Tuesday.

That's what everyone is talking about and asking about this week. So, Will and I are here to answer your Penix-related questions. Here we go.

Johnny B. from Atlanta, Georgia

Dear Tori, MICHEAL PENIX. My quick question today hopes to add some positivity and Christmas cheer to all the Dirty Birds reading this. What positives does Penix bring to the Atlanta offense? I personally believe that the main draw of Penix will be the youthful juice he could bring to revitalize the offense.

Tori: You raise a key point, Johnny. Penix is younger, more agile and athletic than Cousins is. He also has a bit more arm strength than Cousins, too. All of these things can be considered positives. But I think the biggest difference that we should see early is the mobility and athleticism piece.

A major critique of Cousins' play is his lack of mobility. Now, has Cousins ever been anything more than a true pocket passer in his career? No. But he could get away with it because of his accuracy. When that accuracy and decision-making started to decline at a rapid pace, it made the lack of mobility a tougher pill to swallow.

Now, enter Penix, who — no — is not a dual threat quarterback, but he is an athletic one. He can extend plays. He can buy time in a shifting pocket. He opens up a little bit more of the playbook because of that wrinkle he provides. It should be a positive for the Falcons.

The next obvious question is how much does Penix's skillset change the offense as a whole? Zac Robinson said this week that, yes, there will be differing layers to account for Penix's deep ball threat and agility, but the overall plan of attack won't differ too terribly much from what we have come to know the Falcons offense to be to this point. The difference, the team hopes, is that Penix's placement at quarterback will (to your point) revitalize the offense by way of scoring much-needed points.

Matt B. from Newnan, Ga.

I'm bummed with how the Kirk Cousins journey played out. That's not how I thought this season would go, and I count myself among the frustrated fans out there. That being said, at least we don't have to wait as long to see what Michael Penix Jr. can do. Given that he's had a lot of time to sit and learn, what are some of the issues he had coming out of college that you'll be watching to see if they got corrected or not?

Will: Thanks for the question, Matt! I chose this one because I thought it paired really nicely with the one Tori answered above. The flip-side of the coin, if you will. There are really two things I'm most curious to see on Sunday, based on the research I did on Penix during the draft process.

The first is Penix's ability to use the entirety of the play design. It's no secret that Penix was a big-game hunter at the University of Washington. He had more deep passing yards than any other quarterback in college football, and more than 300 yards more than Drake Maye, who was No. 2 on that list. Heck, even in his limited action this year, we've already seen Penix take a deep shot to Casey Washington — and it was beautiful, I might add. However, it's not often players can make a living on that type of YOLO mindset, especially when NFL defenses are playing in split-safety looks 57.6% of the time, according to Next Gen Stats. He wasn't always the best at quickly moving to an intermediate or check-down option in college, but that will need to change. Defenses will likely try to make Penix be patient and meticulously advance Atlanta's offense down the field. Can he do that?

My second point works off the first. Penix largely avoided the middle of the field at the collegiate level, choosing to shoot balls down the sidelines or seams. The most successful quarterbacks in the NFL, however, are masters at throwing over the middle. That requires accuracy, timing and the right mix of pace and touch. There were times at Washington when Penix's accuracy waned. Analysts have connected that to his mechanics, which can certainly be cleaned up with coaching. During training camp, I observed a few balls that were either too high or too low, but I also saw some incredible passes into tight windows. He's likely going to see more tight windows on Sunday than he did in a single game the past couple of seasons. How he navigates those windows will be crucial, because any errant ball in the NFL has a chance to end in a turnover.

Brandon K. from Europe

Good morning, my name is Brandon. I am currently deployed overseas and a huge Atlanta Falcons fan. I was wondering if the Falcons organization sends care packages or fan packs to deployed soldiers. Thank you for your time and hope to hear back from the Atlanta Falcons organization.

Tori: Brandon! Hello! Thank you for writing in. The Falcons organization cares deeply for our troops and loves supporting any way it can. With that being said, would you mind going back to the Mailbox submission page and letting us know what base you are stationed at? I am happy to pass along your note to our community outreach team to get something together for you and maybe a few of your buddies!

Thank you for your service! Looking forward to hearing from you.