Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris sent a message to rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. as he gears up for the 2024 season. While speaking to reporters this past weekend, Morris shared his advice to Penix and the other rookies, which led to him referencing Shaquille O’Neal.
“The best way of going about this is being your best self, being the best version of yourself,” Morris said. I showed the Shaq video when his dad walked out on the court and when he was trying to be Dr. J., and he said his dad, the General smacked him and said, ‘Man, be Shaq’ and that’s why he dunked.
“I told these guys just to go out there and be yourself, be the best version of yourself, be the best version of who you are. That’s why we got you. You fit our ethos or you wouldn’t be sitting in this building, you wouldn’t be sitting in this room, and going out really grabbing those guys allow them to be the best version of themself.
Morris added: “It’s really not just Penix, it’s all of those guys. In particular, I know you want to know about Penix because he’s our first-round pick. But just go be yourself, be the best version of yourself and who you’ve been and what you’ve done to this point and that’s good enough for us.”
Raheem Morris reveals offseason plan for Michael Penix Jr.
The Falcons shocked the football world when they selected Penix at No. 8 overall. The move came over a month after the Falcons signed four-time Pro Bowl QB Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract. This leads to the question of what are Penix’s plans for the offseason workouts.
“Get out and get acclimated, Morris said. “They’ve been doing a meet and lift swap and from the meet and lift swap from offense and defense and going to get the lift to a small amount of run to getting out of the grass to doing some individual work to a little bit of group install nothing against each other other than the voluntary minicamp.”
Morris went on to say that he’s getting Penix “acclimated and caught up to those types of things.” All eyes will be on Penix for the entire spring and summer, but Cousins will be the starter for the 2024 season and beyond. In the same press conference, Morris said Cousins is a “full-go” for offseason workouts after suffering an Achilles injury in October.
