Penix fully cleared as Falcons ramp up QB1 battle

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. has been cleared to practice fully, head coach Kevin Stefanski said after Saturday's 34-6 preseason win over the Indianapolis Colts. Stefanski said Penix will be able to do 11-on-11 team periods for the first time since undergoing left ACL surgery last November. Penix had only been doing individual work and 7-on-7 periods since OTAs in the spring. Penix said Thursday that he planned on speaking to his doctor that day. He evidently got good news. Penix has had three ACL surgeries including twice tearing his right ACL in college. The Falcons quarterback competition can now start in earnest with both players on equal footing. Atlanta signed Tua Tagovailoa to a one-year, $1.3 million contract in the offseason to compete with Penix. But Tagovailoa has been the only one of the two able to do 11-on-11s since the spring. Quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt said then that the competition could not really begin until Penix was fully cleared. That will kick off Monday. Stefanski did not mention whether Penix would play in the team's final preseason game Friday at the Miami Dolphins. Tagovailoa, however, is expected to play. Stefanski said he would play starters in the first and third preseason games. Tagovailoa was shaky in the team's preseason opener, a 27-7 loss to the Denver Broncos. The Falcons got good quarterback play out of both Cooper Rush and Jack Strand on Saturday. Rush was 10-of-11 for 86 yards and Strand, the undrafted rookie out of Division III Minnesota State-Moorhead, was 12-of-17 passing for 212 yards and two touchdowns (one rushing).