Michael Penix Jr. Makes Cryptic IG Post About Pressure After Matt Ryan's Comments

Michael Penix Jr. posted about facing "pressure" on Instagram the day after Atlanta Falcons president of football operations Matt Ryan declined to commit to him as the team's starting quarterback in 2026.

"As a man, you carry a lot of 'pressure' each and every day. Pressure to provide for your family, pressure to succeed in everything you do in life, pressure of letting everybody around you down. But one thing I never did and never will do is fold in the face of it," Penix wrote in the caption of his post.

Penix continued, "Wherever you at right now in my story, STAY THERE! I never needed motivation or a pat on the back! All I ever needed was an opportunity and as long as I got breath I got that! The turtle race continues... Year 2."

Penix, who has been limited by injuries to just 14 games across two NFL seasons, was sidelined in November with a torn ACL.

He recently told EssentiallySports' Ryan Ward he feels like he will be ready to play for Week 1 of the 2026 season.

Ryan was asked whether Penix, when healthy, is a lock as the Falcons' starter while introducing new general manager Ian Cunningham in a Tuesday press conference.

"Neither of us are the head coach of the football team, so we can't answer your question on that," Ryan answered. "But I think all of us are going to get together... I think, as we start to get into this process, and dive deeper into the roster, how it currently stands, where it's going in the future, I think those are conversations."

Ryan continued, "We're excited about Mike, and what he's doing with his rehab... he's in a good space right now. We're excited about where he's at. But certainly a lot of discussions for us about the entire roster."

The Falcons currently have two quarterbacks under contract in Penix and Kirk Cousins, who recently restructured his contract in a way that will require Atlanta to either work out a new deal or release him by March 13.

What the Falcons decide to do with Cousins' deal by that mid-March deadline, and whether the franchise targets another quarterback in free agency or the upcoming draft, will provide insight as to how confident Ryan and Cunningham feel about Penix going forward.