Falcons QB Penix (rib) exits loss late, doesn't expect injury to be long term

ATLANTA -- Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. came out of Sunday night's 30-23 overtime loss to the Baltimore Ravens late because of a rib injury, but he does not believe it will be a long-term issue. "Knowing me, I'm going to be ready to go next week because I sat out enough in my career, but I'm going to do everything I can in the training room, make sure I get back to where I want to be," Penix said. Penix was sacked by linebacker Tavius Robinson with 27 seconds left, with the score tied, and stayed down on the field briefly, but walked off under his own power. Backup Tua Tagovailoa came in for one play and then Penix reentered. The Falcons ended up having to punt and the game went into overtime, but Penix did not return. Tagovailoa came back in and threw an interception to Kyle Hamilton that ended the game with 2:11 left. Penix said that if the Falcons got the ball to begin overtime, he probably would have come back in. But as he sat on the bench and got cold during a long Ravens drive to begin the period, the pain worsened. Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski said Penix was trying to get comfortable on the bench, but was not able to do so. "It's frustrating, but I think the biggest thing is just I want to be out there, especially in a big moment in a game like that," Penix said. "I just felt like I needed to be out there." Penix just returned in Week 3 from left ACL surgery. It was his third ACL surgery; Penix tore his right ACL twice in college. The Falcons' offense was terrible during the first two weeks of the season with Penix and Tagovailoa (oblique) injured. Third-stringer Cooper Rush led Atlanta to a combined 16 points in Weeks 1 and 2. When Penix returned, the Falcons scored 80 points combined in his first two starts. On Sunday, Penix was 19-of-32 passing for 240 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions before getting injured. "I hope he's great," Falcons running back Bijan Robinson said of Penix. "I hope that it could maybe only be just a bruise or something like that, and it just felt a little like that in the moment, but I just pray he's all right. I know the whole team does."