Falcons HC Raheem Morris struggles to explain Michael Penix Jr.'s preseason sit

You might be asking yourself, "How is it possible for a team to see all it needs from a rookie quarterback in 16 pass attempts?" 

And that would be fair.

Penix went 9-of-16 for 104 yards in Week 1 of the preseason against the Dolphins. He posted a 76 passer rating, the lowest among 2024 first-round quarterbacks. 

According to Morris, he seemingly did enough to earn the No. 2 job behind starter Kirk Cousins. But that makes the decision to bench him against the Ravens even more confounding.

It's not unusual for a starter to sit during the preseason, but a team deciding against playing its top two quarterbacks is bizarre.

Backups need all the reps they can get, particularly a rookie like Penix, who was inconsistent in his first preseason action.

He shouldn't receive many snaps in the regular season unless Cousins, who is coming off a torn Achilles, suffers another injury.

In that case, Penix might find himself behind the curve because of his lack of preseason snaps.

Other rookie quarterbacks — including Caleb Williams (Bears) and Drake Maye (Patriots) — received significant playing time in Week 2, while Bo Nix (Broncos) will start Sunday against the Packers.

The Falcons missed a golden opportunity to let Penix lead the offense in a game-setting for one of the few times he might be able to this year. If he's thrust into regular-season action, Penix won't be as prepared as he could have been.