Michael Penix Jr. is ready to come back next season better than ever.
The second-year quarterback was having a solid season for the Atlanta Falcons, throwing nine touchdowns against three interceptions in his nine starts. However, Penix suffered a torn ACL injury in Week 11 against the Carolina Panthers, the third such injury of his football career.
Penix – only two months removed from the injury – is still rehabbing. He said he has gotten the “baby steps” out of the way and is lifting weights.
“I’m still in early stages, but I feel like I got past the baby steps,” said Penix Jr. in a one-on-one interview. “Right now I’m doing a lot of strengthening and stuff like that. Trying to get my knee back strong, and my quad and all the muscles around it so that I can come back 100%. But I’ve been in rehab every single day for about three hours and just grinding, trying to get back up.”
The 25-year-old said he’s not running yet, but he’s doing all of the weight work at this stage of his rehab.
“I’m doing everything in the weight room,” said Penix Jr. “Physical wise, I can’t run yet, that’s still coming. But I’m squatting. I’m single leg squatting, split squatting, doing all those things, so I feel like I’m at a good spot right now.”
As far as mental fortitude, Penix is the definition of it. The former Washington Huskies star suffered ACL setbacks during his freshman year with the Indiana Hoosiers in 2018 and once again during the 2020 season.
He bounced back from all of that to eventually become one of college football’s best passers during his senior season, leading the Huskies to the College Football National Championship Game during his final year. He also was named a First-team All-American, leading the NCAA in passing yards while also winning the Maxwell Award during the 2023 season.
That success led to him becoming a first-round draft pick and the eventual starting quarterback of the Falcons by the end of his rookie season.
“Yeah, for sure,” said Penix of knowing how to overcome severe injuries by this stage. “Just going through it multiple times, I know what to expect. But for me, I just know I had to push through the tough days. There’s gonna be tough days, but I gotta find ways to push through it. I feel like those days are whenever I feel the most growth.”
Going through a severe injury is probably the toughest thing an athlete can go through. Not only is the rehab challenging and vigorous, it’s the emotional toll it can take on a player not only being away from the field, but being away from his teammates.
Penix said teammates have kept in touch with him since the injury and surgery.
“We talk, some of the guys hit me up and I hit those guys up,” said Penix Jr. “A lot of people are traveling right now, spending time with their family. Everybody is doing their own thing right now. But it’s all love both ways. Everybody’s been good. Everybody reached out when I was going through the surgery and when I first got out of surgery just to check on me. It’s good.”
When asked if he should be good to go by the start of the 2026 season in September, Penix said “that’s the plan.”
“That’s the plan,” said Penix Jr. “I’m doing everything in my power to make sure that happens, but at the end of the day I got to get that check mark by the doctor.”
Michael Penix Jr. Partners With Invisalign To Improve Smile, Self-Confidence
As Penix goes through his rehab, he’s partnering with Invisalign. The Falcons quarterback said he’s been with them over the past couple of months and the teeth aligner has helped tremendously with his smile and self-confidence.
“I feel like for me, Invisalign, you’re just always being in front of the camera,” said Penix. “Always doing these interviews and stuff like that. I feel like I wanted to have a confident smile, and I knew that Invisalign would be able to help me with that. I feel like also outside of the confidence and the smile, I feel like just having great oral health is something that’s going to help me with my physical health as well, especially going through my rehab process, trying to get back healthy, get back on the field, just being able to have good oral health.
“I feel like it helped me with my physical health as well,” Penix continued. “It’s been an awesome journey so far. I feel like I’ve been seeing results. I’ve just been enjoying the journey.”
Penix encourages people to at least look into trying Invisalign if they want to improve their smile or confidence.
“I just feel like everybody should definitely at least look into it, do some research,” said Penix. “Find a local doctor that can help you with this, because I feel like it will help your confidence, help you have a confident smile, go out about your day each and every day with a great smile. I feel like it’s definitely something that has helped me with my confidence in my everyday life. I feel like it can help everybody else too. Check it out.”
