FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Atlanta Falcons coach Raheem Morris sounded off on a misappropriated viral clip of quarterback Michael Penix Jr., calling the whole situation “a joke” that “lets you down” about how people act online.
In the clip from his Wednesday news conference, Penix talks about his fiancée and former coaches as people he has for support. Some who shared the segment made the leap in the caption that Penix has no one on the Falcons coaching staff or roster there for him, an insinuation that spread on social media over the past few days.
“Stop looking for stuff on a young man,” Morris said Friday. “You don’t need this stuff on him. It is what it is. But all of those things people do, it doesn’t matter to affect this building.
“I just feel bad for the kid. I don’t want the kid having to deal with stuff that doesn’t matter or stuff that’s not real. … Let his problems be his problems, like third downs. Let’s fix those. Don’t make up [a thing] that doesn’t exist.”
Penix was asked Friday to clarify what he meant during the news conference, but he declined, saying everyone in the Falcons facility knows the truth.
Morris said he and Penix were joking about the situation at practice this week. Morris said Penix has himself, offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, quarterbacks coach D.J. Williams, offensive passing game coordinator/wide receivers coach T.J. Yates and senior offensive assistant Ken Zampese to lean on. Robinson, Williams and Yates all played quarterback. Morris also mentioned the contributions of veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins, who is backing up Penix.
Williams said he talks to Penix and the other Falcons quarterbacks more than he speaks to his children. He said he didn’t need to have a conversation with Penix about the viral clip.
“I don’t even pay attention to it, to be honest with you,” Williams said. “As long as we know. I mean, everything else is just elevator music.”
Penix has had an up-and-down first full season as the Falcons starting quarterback. He is completing 58.8% of his passes for 1,807 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions. Penix’s 53.6 QBR is 19th in the NFL.
The Falcons (3-6) have lost four straight heading into a home game against the division rival Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
Falcons running back Bijan Robinson said he talks to Penix “every single day.” He has discussed with Penix how the media can take a clip and “blow it way out of proportion.”
“Everybody’s here to help,” Robinson said. “Everybody wants you to succeed at the end of the day. So for us, everybody in this building, we all got each other’s back. That’s why I tell everybody, the outside world, the external world is going to try to divide us and try hard. So we got to keep our faith high, and that’s just going to push us through.”
