it's been fascinating to kind of watch their season obviously the quarterback instability has been a a storyline just given that pennix did not play uh the first couple weeks they were a bit of a mess uh what do you make of just the roller coaster ride the first five weeks have been there in atlanta where it just feels like there's been five different sorts of games

Yeah, I mean, you know, the day before training camp opened, their quarterback situation was pretty well laid out, right? You know, they had – you know, Trevor Simeon was on this team the day before training camp opened.

Tua was here as the insurance guy in case Mike wasn't ready for the start of the season, and then you've got Mike.

Well, then Mike's – not going to be ready for two weeks.

And now Trevor Simeon's got this calf injury.

He's gone.

Does anybody know Cooper Rush's phone number? He's in Dallas.

Your sense of just kind of how he's been able to get his fingerprints on things early on and what you've taken away from just seeing him kind of build a program.

Talk a little bit about, again, that Atlanta offense.

Well, your B. John comment is right.

I mean, he's been remarkable since they drafted him, particularly in primetime games.

He's averaging 185 yards from scrimmage in his last six primetime games.

For his career, he's averaging more yards for scrimmage than any player in NFL history in primetime games, 140 yards over 11 games.

He's just a joy to watch.

He's just fun to watch.

Talk about the maturation of Michael Pennix and what you've seen from him since he's been in Atlanta and where you think he is now as a professional quarterback.

But from your guys' perspective up to this point of what you've seen, what's really changed?

So the offense the last two years has been, you know, the knockoff McVay style with Zach Robinson.

Everybody was hiring a McVay guy.

So you sort of got that flavor of offense.

Now you go to Stefanski, who's...

Shanahan, which I know is akin to McVay, but he's got a bunch of other stuff in there too.

So I think you'll see a more diverse run game offensively than you did in the past.

How are those guys looking and who are kind of some of the big names that people should watch, maybe not only in this game, but kind of throughout the season here?

What do you expect to see from that group against Aaron Rodgers on Sunday?

I expect them to try to generate interior pass rush because they're just, I don't think they're going to be able to get any exterior pass rush given the way the offseason went.

Darius Smith may in fact sort of have a 2.0 version of his career, but it's a lot to expect that to start in week one when he just got to town pretty quickly.

So, I mean, I think that Aaron Rodgers is going to play a lot like Tua is going to play, which is, you know, hot potato with the football.

I mean, I think the average depth of target for both teams in this game will probably be, you know, a yard and 1.8 yards.

Sounds great.

Yeah.

How have you felt about what you've seen at the offensive line all summer long and how they would be able to match up in this game to be able to know that Robinson is going to be able to get off on Sunday?

What do you expect to see from that group against Aaron Rodgers on Sunday?

I expect them to try to generate interior pass rush because they're just, I don't think they're going to be able to get any exterior pass rush given the way the offseason went.

Darius Smith may in fact sort of have a 2.0 version of his career, but it's a lot to expect that to start in week one when he just got to town pretty quickly.

So, I mean, I think that Aaron Rodgers is going to play a lot like Tua is going to play, which is, you know, hot potato with the football.

I mean, I think the average depth of target for both teams in this game will probably be, you know, a yard and 1.8 yards.

Sounds great.

Yeah.

How have you felt about what you've seen at the offensive line all summer long and how they would be able to match up in this game to be able to know that Robinson is going to be able to get off on Sunday?

What do you expect to see from that group against Aaron Rodgers on Sunday?

I expect them to try to generate interior pass rush because I don't think they're going to be able to get any exterior pass rush given the way the offseason went.

Darius Smith may in fact sort of have a 2.0 version of his career, but it's a lot to expect that to start in week one when he just got to town pretty quickly.

So, I mean, I think that Aaron Rodgers is going to play a lot like Tua is going to play, which is, you know, hot potato with the football.

I mean, I think the average depth of target for both teams in this game will probably be, you know, a yard and 1.8 yards.

Sounds great.

Yeah.

How have you felt about what you've seen at the offensive line all summer long and how they would be able to match up in this game to be able to know that Robinson is going to be able to get off on Sunday?

He's always been such a polarizing quarterback for so many different reasons, but, you know, what are the, what are the things that have led to him squandering this opportunity?

Yeah, it's, it's exactly that.

It's a comfort level in the offense.

The offense has not been smooth when he's been in there.

He's not been able to access the middle of the field, which is no real surprise.

When it breaks, it, it breaks down pretty early, and when it does, you know, it, it kinda looks ugly and you get a lot of dump-offs to Bijan and Kyle Pitts, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it can't be your entire offense.

So I think it's familiarity with the new offense.

What have you made, in the limited opportunities that you've seen him, what have you made of the Michael Penix experience so far with the Falcons?

on from

Tua? I don't think so.

I mean, no, not for week one.

I would be stunned if that's a week one decision.

I don't see any need to.

move away from Tua.

You signed Tua for a reason.

Do they even tempt the fates by putting him on the practice squad and potentially losing him? Maybe it's a small percentage, but losing him, would they have him over Cooper Rush? How do you think that would play out?

John Robinson – in this offense?

All the time.

Every time.

100% of the snaps seems to be the plan.

And I can't blame them given the rest of the situation.

Yeah.

We know Kevin Stefanski wants to run the ball.

So when you talk about knowing what you have in Michael Penix and this battle with Tua, how important is that for right now to utilize these guys in the, I mean, they're definitely in the hay of their, they're the prime of their careers, being able to utilize those weapons offensively.

Uh, well first off, when the news came down, uh, your reaction and the ripple effects of a team, uh, that might be looking for a pass rush obviously elsewhere for the first eight games of the season.

Yeah, uh, not surprised.

Uh, if, if I was surprised by anything, it was not that it was a little bit longer.

I, I think eight games was about the minimum I expected, um, based on the precedent of the NFL, based on the details that we saw of James Pierce Jr.'s incident in February, based on the fact that there was video and, you know, that didn't make the league look, or James, you know, the situation look good at all.

So I thought he might get 10 or more, honestly.

But eight, um, you know, is half the season.

You know, you're gonna come back, you're gonna be out at...

What have you seen from Tua Tagovailoa? Uh, because we have yet to see Michael Penix, uh, cleared for 11 on 11, correct?

Well, first off, when the news came down, your reaction and the ripple effects of a team that might be looking for a pass rush, obviously, elsewhere for the first eight games of the season.

Yeah, not surprised.

If I was surprised by anything, it was not that it was a little bit longer.

I think eight games was about the minimum I expected based on the precedent of the NFL, based on the details that we saw, the James Pierce Jr.'s incident in February, based on the fact that there was video and, you know, that didn't make the league look or the situation look good at all.

So I thought he might get 10 or more, honestly.

But eight, you know, is half the season.

You know, you're going to come back.

What have you seen from Tua Tungavailoa? Because we have yet to see Michael Penix cleared for 11-on-11, correct?

Like how much will the QB spot impact Atlanta? What Atlanta is this season, Josh, when you consider them a playoff contender?

Enormously.

I mean, none of those guys are going to be able to do anything near their full potential without competent QB play.

So you're going to have to have competent QB play.

And then if you get that, and if you get it from Tua, then that's probably good news for B. John Robinson and Kyle Pitts and the people who have them on their fantasy teams.

because that's to his game.

Get the ball out of his hands quick, dump it off underneath, just play point guard.

What's to be made of the defensive side of the ball for the Falcons?

In your mind, what does this quarterback battle and what does this quarterback conversation look like between now and the month before week one?

one?I, I think that it's gonna be a lot of question marks, and I don't think we're-- I don't even think we're gonna get a definitive answer in week one.

That's my overarching theme that it, fr- so far through camp.

I think it's very unlikely that one guy starts 17 games for this team.

I think Tua's gonna get a chance.

I think Michael Penix is gonna get a chance.

I think Tua probably, if he can get back in the full swing of practice, he's been out with back tightness, probably is your week one starter.

But the fact that it seems like Tua's had the inside track and that he's had the best chance to be the starter, doesn't that tell you all you need to know about how they feel about Michael Penix?

But has anybody outside of Jalen Walker in that edge rusher room stood out to you so far in camp?

Sam Nevecon has been the guy who's basically running the runs along with Jalen Walter, and it's looked fine, but it is so difficult to tell in practice.

Even when your pads in full go, you're not full go, you're trying to stay off the ground, you're trying to avoid situations like happened today.

So it's just gonna be impossible to tell .

And Braylon Trott has gotten a good run You know, with the twos and sometimes the threes, he looks healthy, says he's healthy.

You know, he's a guy that we all thought was going to be a contributor three years ago.

He'll have every – excuse me.

So it was one of those things, as you mentioned, not necessarily contentious, that we were particularly panicking about with the hold in uh it was just like for me personally it was like okay well can we get him locked in like before the first preseason game and uh you know that that's we should give the team enough time to get him ready for the regular season um but when it comes to paying a running back that's always a you know divisive topic of discussion in these online spaces josh do you have any concerns about paying a running back this much money

i was all ready to start with bijan robinson and talk about the quarterbacks and we'll get to all that in a moment but josh kendall was out of falcon practice today where we got the awful news of jalen walker going down with a knee injury steve weisinger and rapaport said it's feared to be an acl josh joins us to talk about that more on the loud security systems newsmaker line all right josh so i imagine it was a bad like i saw your tweets i could hear the hush in your tweets of what it was like so give us the uh on-site paint a picture for what it looked like

I mean, it was just one of those moments, if you've watched enough football games or football practices, certainly, you kind of knew.

I mean, it was a bad moment.

The way he went down, his reaction, his teammates' immediate reaction, there was a hush.

Everybody took a beat.

You know, in your mind, you knew it was 11, but everybody sort of asked each other to confirm because you don't want to tweet that out wrong.

But it was...

covering the falcons for espn had a report that they was already before the jail and news and the injury we're trying to look for other additional pass rushers so we'll see what it becomes on that front josh kendall uh with chuck and charnoff covers the falcons for the athletic he's with us on the loud security systems newsmaker line okay so let's talk about the quarterback stuff i know two is inching closer and closer to being just fully a go what have you seen from him recently

So give us the on-site, paint a picture for what it looked like.

I mean, it was just one of those moments, if you've watched enough football games or football practices, certainly, you kind of knew.

I mean, it was a bad moment.

The way he went down, his reaction, his teammates' immediate reaction, there was a hush.

Everybody took a beat.

You know, in your mind, you knew it was 11, but everybody sort of asked each other to confirm because you don't want to tweet that out wrong.

But it was a pretty somber moment.

What have you seen from him recently?

come in and essentially just completely fill the same role that Algier had occupied in seasons past?

I don't think he fills exactly the same role.

I do think Bijan gets more of the workload than he did with Tyler here.

Not a ton more, but more, especially around the goal line.

If you're a fantasy football owner, maybe that is something you're interested in.

But B. John is absolutely, you know, if not the best running back in the league, he's he's in that conversation with, you know, maybe maybe two more guys.

He's a guy who's on the verge, I think, probably of a second contract in Atlanta.

Do we know his status going into the season?

How are you doing today?

Good, how are y'all? Well, Michael Penick still, you know, throughout OTAs in the spring, was not cleared for full work because of the knee injury that ended his season last year in Week 11.

We don't know for sure that he's going to be cleared to start training camp.

So we don't know exactly when the competition is going to start.

I mean, it is, you know...

Tua Tungavailoa probably has the upper hand right now simply because he's healthy and he has demonstrated much more accuracy in his career.

Kevin Stefanski, the new head coach, says accuracy is the most important part of a quarterback's job.

yeah scrolling through the depth chart and some unfamiliar names some guys we've known from the past popping up there but uh yeah i'm curious what how that might work out for them now i just want to ask you quickly josh uh this past draft well two years ago i guess james pierce was selected had a great season but in early february had some issues off the field do we know his status going into the season

So the Falcons are kind of in a holding pattern like everybody else.

Yeah, the Falcons could act on their own.

They could.

They're a big boy organization that has free will, and they could do something.

It is complicated by the league's CBA.

If they said, James Pierce, we're imposing some discipline on you right now, the CBA would get involved.

Whereas the league can jump in and do what kind of, the commissioner can kind of do whatever he wants, whenever he wants.

What do you think happens with Jalen Walker as they expand the palette of what he's going to be asked to do? What do you envision that role being, and how do you think he adjusts?

So the Falcons are kind of in a holding pattern like everybody else.

Yeah, the Falcons could act on their own.

They could.

They're a big boy organization that has free will, and they could do something.

It is complicated by the league's CBA.

If they said, James Pierce, we're imposing some discipline on you right now, the CBA would get involved.

Whereas the league can jump in and do what kind of, the commissioner can kind of do whatever he wants, whenever he wants.

He'll be on discount, and I know that that's the kind of thing that appeals to him, but it's not that simple.

The, the eternal question.

Right, but, but, but I don't even know at this point if he's d- he's certainly not the first or second answer to that question.

I think Darnell Mooney and Ray-Ray McCloud, DJ Chark, who they just signed, Kadaryl Hodge.

Drake London, uh, for me, is a known commodity.

I think Drake London's a really good player.

I'm not sure he's a great player.

I think he's really good.

What are the other priorities as they've communicated them to you guys, where it's like, "All right, even if we were pretty good last year, these are the two or three areas where we are hyper-focused on improvement"?