Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris believes the franchise is set up well with quarterback Michael Penix Jr. at the helm.
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. delivered a three-game stretch of invigorating play to close his rookie season.
Penix, a 24-year-old rookie who was drafted No. 8 overall last April, went 58-for-100 passing for 737 yards, three touchdowns, three interceptions and one rushing score. He capped his season with a 312-yard, three-total-touchdown performance in Sunday's 44-38 overtime loss to theCarolina Panthers.
But Penix wasn't supposed to play this season -- Atlanta simply had no choice after starter Kirk Cousins threw just one touchdown and nine interceptions in his final five starts.
And now, the question isn't whether Penix is the team's quarterback moving forward, but instead why he didn't get the reins any sooner.
Regardless, Falcons coach Raheem Morris said during his end-of-season press conference Monday he doesn't have any remorse over the timing of the change from Cousins to Penix.
"It's never like a regret thing," Morris said. "You’ve got to make decisions. You’ve got to do them when you think they're the right way. When a decision was made is when I felt like the team played really well outside of our quarterback position, and that's when I made the change.
"When you make that change, it's hard to say you regret it because you had a lot of confidence in the guy that was out there before, and we just were unable to get it done."
Morris added he made the decision when he did because he thought Penix gave the Falcons their best chance to win. Atlanta went only 1-2 in his starts, but both defeats came in overtime -- after Penix led game-tying drives at the end of regulation but saw the team's defense allow game-ending touchdown drives before he had a chance to see the field.
"It's hard to say regret, but the kid's in a good spot," Morris said.
Morris said Penix's performance didn't necessarily reaffirm their belief, because they'd long felt confident in the former Indiana University and University of Washington standout.
Atlanta fell in love with Penix during the pre-draft process, Morris said, and had its evaluation prove correct during the offseason. Penix was poised and proved he could learn, throw and lock in to the task at hand.
Morris added last week he thinks Penix could've played earlier in the season, but he doesn't know if the Tampa, Fla., native would be the same polished product he is now.
And that product has, if nothing else, given an organization now seven years removed from its last winning season and playoff appearance a newfound hope.
"For you guys, it was the first time you guys saw it, but we had kind of been seeing it behind the scenes," Morris said about Penix's performance. "For it to come out, I think it's pretty good for him. It definitely affirms some of the things for our fan base, for the people in this (media) room.
"But for the coaching staff and a lot of people that was in the building, we saw a lot of promise in the young man from just practice."
Yet the Falcons chose to hold off on playing Penix sooner -- a decision that may generate split reviews, but one that Morris feels set him up for a long, successful career.
"Michael Penix is certainly outstanding," Morris said. "He's certainly one of the guys that's going to play in this league and absolutely dominate for as long as we allow him."
