The Atlanta Falcons are taking an extremely complicated approach with Michael Penix Jr.
After drafting him in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, they were patient with incorporating him into the starting lineup. Showing flashes as a rookie, he had a solid start to the 2025 campaign as well. But his injury history once again became a problem.
Since then, he's been recovering from a torn ACL, while the organization has already gone through a coaching change. Now, fans believe they've outright forgotten about him.
His time at college was continually marred by injuries as Penix suffered two ACL tears and major shoulder injuries that caused him to miss significant time. However, a healthy two-year stint at Washington had given fans optimism that the worst of it was behind him.
Unfortunately, in his second NFL season, those same concerns returned. A partial ACL tear cut his 2025 season short. Now, it's been a long road to recovery as he sits behind Tua Tagovailoa on the depth chart.
With new head coach Kevin Stefanski assuming the reins of the operation, concerns are starting to mount for Penix's future with the Falcons. Things reached a fever pitch in a promotional picture by the team's official post on X.
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"Nine days out!" the caption read , but the content of the image told fans a huge story. Rather than focusing on Penix, who wears the number 9 for the Falcons, the team instead shared pictures of their potential TE2, Charlie Woerner, who wears 89.
The shock was undeniable all across social media, with one fan going so far as to suggest that the team was trying to poke fun at its fans. "This is [expletive] insane. The team is trolling their own fanbase right now."
Others called out the move as "disrespectful," even wondering if a similar treatment was coming for some of the other star players on their squad: "Why wouldn't you use Penix? Y'all gonna disrespect Bijan [Robinson] & Drake [London] too??? Get it together, admin."
For some, the situation was turning hilarious, as a fan wondered , "This (is) some next level [expletive] [expletive]. Our first round draft pick QB??"
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Former quarterback turned social media analyst Kurt Benkert was also confused, stating, "Tf are we doing, man?"
Luke McCown, who spent more than a decade in the NFL, also agreed with Benkert. He added to the vitriol against the Falcons, claiming, "That's called trying to hard to not tell everyone what we already know."
It remains to be seen whether this was a genuine oversight by the Falcons or a deliberate message. With his injury concerns, alongside ranking at number 26 on PFN's Quarterback Impact Metric , the hype around Penix might be dying down in the franchise.
As a result, with a new coaching staff that isn't as tied to the former first-round pick, they could aim to take a new direction altogether if the opportunity befalls them in the near future.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network .
