Michael Penix Jr.'s second season in Atlanta is in peril.
The Falcons are placing Penix on injured reserve due to the knee injury suffered in Sunday's 30-27 overtime loss to the Carolina Panthers, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported on Monday.
The Falcons have since announced the news.
Penix aggravated a bone bruise and knee sprain from earlier in the season on Sunday, per Rapoport and Pelissero. Penix also suffered some damage to his ACL in his left knee, which could necessitate a full reconstruction, per Rapoport and Pelissero.
Penix exited Sunday's game after taking a third-quarter shot. He limped off the field before heading to the locker room. The QB was listed as questionable but did not return. Atlanta owned a 21-16 lead when Penix left.
Falcons wide receiver Drake London is also out at least one week after he suffered a PCL sprain on the last play of regulation on Sunday and was ruled out during the extra period, per Rapoport, who added that London could potentially miss more time after Week 12.
The news is a blow for the 3-7 Falcons, who have floundered, losing their past five games. Atlanta, which traded its first-round selection to the Los Angeles Rams back in April, currently holds the No. 8 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
If Penix's season is over, he will have completed 60.1% of his passes for 1,982 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions in nine starts.
After making three starts as a rookie, the 25-year-old has had an up-and-down second season, flashing a big arm and fearlessness pushing the ball downfield. But he has struggled under pressure, missing a host of passes, and was slow to process at times.
Penix entered the league with injury questions, having suffered season-ending ACL tears to his right knee in 2018 and 2020 in college. Now, he has experienced his first major NFL injury.
After he showed potential late last season, the Falcons handed Penix the starting role out of the gate this offseason, saddling high-priced signal-caller Kirk Cousins to the bench and sparking trade rumors that went nowhere.
With Penix out at least four weeks, the Falcons now turn back to Cousins.
The 37-year-old quarterback struggled in his first start of the season, a 34-10 loss to Miami in Week 8. Cousins looked rattled much of the game, completing 21 of 31 passes for 173 yards with zero touchdowns and zero picks. After taking over on Sunday, the veteran went just 6-of-14 passing for 48 yards in the loss.
Cousins brings experience to the Falcons' lineup, but a lack of mobility and fewer field-stretching plays could make it more difficult for Atlanta to move the ball. Expect ATL to rely even more on Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier out of the backfield in the coming weeks. The Falcons face the two-win Saints and Jets the next two weeks.
Raheem Morris' club expected to compete for a playoff spot in 2025, highlighted by the move to trade their 2026 first-rounder to draft pass rusher James Pearce Jr. in the first round. However, the club stumbled from the start and has swirled the toilet bowl, with their first five-game losing skid in a season since 2020, when Morris was the interim head coach.
Now, the Falcons are trying to pick up the pieces without their second-year starting quarterback.
