Michael Penix Jr. is officially the Atlanta Falcons’ starting quarterback again. Head coach Kevin Stefanski named Penix QB1 for Thursday night’s road game against the Green Bay Packers, ending Cooper Rush’s brief and rocky run under center.
Penix has not played in a regular-season game since suffering his third career ACL tear in a Week 11 loss to Carolina in November 2025. He spent the offseason recovering, split first-team reps with Rush last week, and has now been cleared to take over on his reconstructed left knee.
The switch comes after Atlanta’s offense bottomed out in Sunday’s 34-3 loss. Through two games the Falcons have scored just 16 total points and have not run a single offensive snap inside the red zone.
Rush was given the Week 2 start after posting a 2.6 QBR in the opener, and the follow-up was worse. He turned the ball over three times against Carolina, throwing two interceptions and losing a fumble, and was benched in the third quarter. Undrafted rookie Jack Strand came in and immediately threw a pick-six.
Atlanta ended up leaning on Rush after offseason addition Tua Tagovailoa suffered an oblique injury in practice the Thursday before Week 1, despite having won the starting job in training camp.
Stefanski waited until addressing the locker room Monday afternoon before making the change official.
“I will give you an update when I’ve been able to talk to the players and work through it,” Stefanski said. “So, I don’t have an update right this minute. But again, constant communication with Mike, with all of our guys, so we’ll work through it this week.”
Penix now faces a short week and a tough road test against Green Bay’s pass rush at Lambeau Field with limited practice time to prepare. His arm strength gives Atlanta a chance to stretch the field, open running lanes for Bijan Robinson, and get Drake London and Kyle Pitts more involved after two lifeless weeks on offense.
