Maybe you looked at the Falcons 0-2 record heading into Thursday Night Football against the Green Bay Packers and wondered who the hell decided subjecting us to the Atlanta Falcons in primetime repeatedly was a great idea.

I’ve been on the Falcons’ beat for 14 years now, and while a rocky start to the season is nothing new for Atlanta, the national narrative around this team is missing some important context. So here’s a breakdown of the saga that has been the Falcons’ quarterback depth chart in 2026 and why it’s a huge deal that starter Michael Penix is finally able to actually start in Week 3 against the Packers.

Why was Michael Penix Jr. out?

The Falcons drafted Penix with the eighth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft out of Washington. They expected him to grow into the franchise quarterback role the team has struggled to fill since their attempted trade for Deshaun Watson didn’t work out and essentially forced the team to trade now-Falcons president Matt Ryan to the Colts and start all over.

And the Falcons thought they’d have time to let Penix develop and adjust to the pro game before he had to take over as the starter. The Falcons signed the top free agent QB on the market that year, a post-Achilles tear Kirk Cousins, expecting to roll with the veteran as a starter. Cousins was not as healthy as the team thought, and it showed on the field. Penix started five games in his rookie season as a result, and he won the starting job in 2025, handing it back over to Cousins when Penix suffered the season-ending ACL tear that required complete reconstructive surgery. It was Penix’s third ACL tear and surgical repair.

Penix was medically cleared prior to the final preseason game, but Penix told the media in Week 2 that he had yet to hit some of the physical benchmarks (he declined to elaborate on those benchmarks) the medical team wanted him to hit to feel comfortable taking full-speed contact, so he was unable to start either Week 1 or Week 2. Penix was named the starting quarterback for Week 3 against the Packers on Thursday Night Football on Monday afternoon.

What was the Falcons’ plan at QB this season?

I promise that the Falcons DID have a plan for the quarterback position this season, even though there was always a question as to what Penix’s recovery timetable would be. The team signed Tua Tagovailoa as an experienced veteran backup and stopgap starter, with Trevor Siemian waiting in the wings given both Penix’s and Tagovailoa’s injury histories. Then the very first day of training camp rolled around, and all bets were off.

Penix still wasn’t medically cleared to participate fully. Tagovailoa was having back spasms and was unable to practice. And Siemian was waived with an injury settlement that very morning, leaving Atlanta with one healthy quarterback on the first day of practice: Undrafted free agent rookie Jack Strand out of Minnesota-Moorhead. The Falcons brought in Cooper Rush for a workout early that morning and signed him just before that first training camp practice began.

Tagovailoa, Rush, and Strand all got plenty of reps in training camp and the preseason with Penix sidelined. Penix wasn’t ready to start Week 1, so Tagovailoa got the nod — and then he hurt his oblique, forcing the Falcons to pass the baton to Rush. And then, because the football gods apparently hate the Atlanta Falcons, Rush hurt his back during the team’s final walk-through of the week.

Rush started in Week 1 against the Steelers anyway out of pure necessity, and he looked abysmal, finishing 12 of 22 for 143 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions. In Week 2 against the Panthers, Rush went 10 of 17 for 86 yards, two picks, and no touchdowns. Rush split starters’ reps in practice with Penix as the team held out hope that he might be ready to start against Carolina, and that probably didn’t help. Rush was benched in favor of Strand, who had zero practice reps with the starters in advance of that game, and that probably didn’t help either.

Which brings us to Week 3, Thursday Night Football against the Green Bay Packers.

What to expect from Michael Penix vs. the Packers

This is the question on everyone’s mind heading into Thursday night — including mine.

During training camp, the Falcons got creative about getting Penix prepared for the pass rush without risking his health, using an exercise ball rolled toward him at the snap to simulate pressure. Penix will have gotten starter reps throughout this lighter week of practice. He’s medically cleared and the reconstructive process on his knee is supposed to reinforce it so he shouldn’t have to worry about a FOURTH ACL tear — but also, how could he not worry about that?

The Packers have seven sacks on the season over the first two games, which ties them for second in the league, and they’ve been effective at pressuring the opposing quarterback and they rank first in the NFL heading into Week 3 for forcing negative-yardage plays. The Falcons offensive line is still finding its way after longtime right tackle Kaleb McGary retired. Jawaan Taylor was signed this offseason to fill that role, but his ability to integrate with that unit was delayed by injury. Taylor is expected to play on Thursday after leaving Sunday’s loss to the Panthers with a rib injury, but will he be 100%? He’ll need to be against this Packers pass rush.

It’s a bit of an adjustment for the offensive line in particular to adjust to Penix, a lefty, after protecting righties Rush and Strand the first two weeks of the season. It changes the direction of each play, so it’ll be interesting to see if Atlanta’s offense has a smooth transition with that. If Penix is unable to finish the game, Tagovailoa is expected to be active and available tonight, so the rest of the offense wouldn’t have to adjust back to a right-handed quarterback — unless catastrophe strikes, which let’s be real, could absolutely happen because it’s the Falcons.

The only slight competitive advantages Atlanta may have here are that Penix is fully rested despite this being a short week, and there’s zero film of Penix operating in this Tommy Rees offense. He’s got a bigger arm than Rush, so I’m hoping we’ll see Atlanta pushing the ball down the field more, taking advantage of the size and speed of guys like Drake London and Kyle Pitts, and that this will create more opportunities for Bijan Robinson to make plays.

Will Penix be better than Rush has been over the first two games of the season? I have a hard time believing he could be worse.

I am concerned that Penix won’t be prepared for the speed of the game because he hasn’t seen any game action since November 2025. I’m not worried about him re-injuring the repaired knee, but I am concerned he may be a step slow, rusty, and could put himself at risk for new injuries.

But the band-aid’s got to come off at some point, and if Penix can prevent the Falcons from slipping to 0-3 on Thursday, it’ll be worth it for Atlanta.