- 2 days ago
Randy McMichael and John Fricke speak with Joe Patrick about the state of the Atlanta Falcons as OTAs wrap up. They highlight Michael Penix Jr.’s surprising progress and mobility during drills before shifting to a breakdown of the team's difficult early-season schedule and defensive roster battles.
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00:00John, and I'm so shocked because you were at the Y on the Stairmaster
00:03and didn't realize you had to work today,
00:05that you have not said anything yet about the 100 days.
00:08Well, because we were supposedly doing college football at 1220,
00:10and that's why I was going to bring it up.
00:11Oh, you want to bring it up?
00:12You know, as long as you brought it up, we're 100 days away.
00:15There we go.
00:15There we go.
00:16There we go.
00:17I know you had to get a shameless plug.
00:20Speaking of shameless plugs, nobody has more of that than Joe Patrick,
00:23who's hawking his podcast and his YouTube channel for our videos of the Falcon.
00:29And so people get excited.
00:30So let's get to Joe.
00:32In one quarter, we've got 92.9 The Games' midday host, Andy and Randy,
00:36in a combined 12 feet, 3 inches, and just under 400 pounds.
00:40To the best of our knowledge, and in the other quarter, 92.9 The Games' reporter,
00:45Smoke and Joe Patrick, at an undisclosed heightened weight
00:48because he likes to cause trouble.
00:52And he's on the daggone golf course, man.
00:55Wow.
00:56I did it.
00:56I did it for you, Randy.
00:58The life you live.
00:59The life you live.
01:00The life you live.
01:00You know, Bo said I would have blown this off if I were you,
01:03but that's how dedicated to the game that I am.
01:06And I had to ask my playing partners ahead of time if they'd be cool with it.
01:09But fortunately, they were.
01:10Okay.
01:10Well, we appreciate you making the sacrifice to slow down the game today
01:16to give us a few minutes of your time.
01:18We do greatly appreciate it.
01:19And Joe, OTA's wrapping up.
01:22You hate to say, well, what did you take any takeaways from?
01:25Because we played a clip where Kevin Spence pretty much played what it was.
01:28But, you know, did you see anything that caught your eye as far as any quarterback play
01:34or receiver play, young players, anything like that?
01:37Yeah.
01:37I mean, well, I think the main takeaways are obviously Michael Penix.
01:40I'm sure we'll be talking about him in a little bit here.
01:42But, you know, he just looks so impressive, way more impressive than I was anticipating.
01:47You know, maybe it's because in my head I had Kirk Cousins in my head and his comeback.
01:51And he's obviously, you know, quite a bit older than Michael Penix was when he suffered his injury.
01:55It was also a different injury.
01:56I think the Achilles is a tougher one to come back from.
01:58And when he was at OTAs, he did appear at OTAs, but he was just kind of throwing on air,
02:02doing the, you know, the indie drills for the receivers, throwing them the ball.
02:05But he wasn't really doing much in the way of actual scrimmage work or footwork.
02:08And Penix was back there, you know, not only taking the snaps from under center,
02:12which is the other thing that was notable about what was going on at practice,
02:15but looking really good, you know, doing the drills like where they're high-stepping away from the center on the
02:20dropback.
02:21I didn't think he would be doing any kind of dropbacks, guys.
02:23So, to me, that just tells you he's way further ahead in his recovery than I anticipated.
02:28And I think because he is so far ahead, it gives him a great chance to actually win this quarterback
02:33job.
02:34I would still probably, you know, handicap it as Tua having the slight advantage just because of the health situation
02:40still.
02:40But I think it's much closer than I certainly anticipated when we got to this point.
02:46Joe, John Freake, I've got to tell you, you know, I don't know who your playing partners are,
02:50but knowing your golf game, I'm guessing that you are favored to win two of the 18 holes today, correct?
02:56Somewhere around there.
02:57Yeah, yeah.
02:58So, anyway, it's actually a good time.
03:00Can I promote?
03:01I'm out here with Allison Mestrangelo from WSB,
03:04Victor Prieto from Fox 5 and Georgia Chambers, also from Fox 5 and GPB-TV.
03:09We're at a Humane Society event, so we're doing it for the pups out there.
03:12Ah, look at Joe.
03:13And a scramble.
03:14Look at Joe.
03:14And that's the great thing about a scramble, too, is everybody wins.
03:16Everybody wins in a scramble, right?
03:18Yeah, yeah, yeah.
03:19Everybody wins in a scramble, right?
03:21But I was just going to kind of, you know, do kind of a backwards thing.
03:25And I'm curious, because FanDuel came out, and we were talking about it, Joe, over the weekend,
03:30about how FanDuel had handicapped every game in the NFL this year
03:33and favored the Falcons in only two of their 17 games.
03:38When you see stuff like that, is that something that the guys in the locker room pay any attention?
03:43Randy could talk about it when he was playing.
03:44Do guys pay any attention to all these, are they going to go 5 and 12, those kind of things?
03:51Yeah, you know, I don't know what to quite make of the handicapping of the games game by game at
03:59this stage
03:59because there's still so many unknowns, and especially when you get into these games
04:03with injuries and things in the NFL, anything can happen.
04:07And, you know, it reminds me a little bit of my first year covering the Falcons for 19-inning game
04:12in 2022.
04:13That Arthur Smith team was, you know, basically predicted to win about two games that year.
04:18And if you said they were going to win five games, you kind of got laughed off.
04:21They ultimately won seven games.
04:24So, you know, anything goes, basically, is the point here.
04:27And I would say even though they're not favored in a lot of these games,
04:31you know, it's not a huge margin in a lot of them, but it is a very tough schedule early
04:35on.
04:35I think that's going to be the biggest challenge for this Falcons team
04:37is kind of keeping themselves afloat, keeping themselves in contention
04:41because you have those three division games back-to-back-to-back to end the season.
04:45And you can, frankly, not have a great record at that point
04:48because you have that opportunity at the end of the season.
04:51You can kind of keep yourself within arm's distance to potentially win the division.
04:55And what we know has traditionally been a pretty weak one in the NFC South.
04:59JP, what did you think of, it was earlier this week,
05:01when Kevin was asked about the quarterback room
05:04and he was listing all the names that are in the quarterback room.
05:07And I was just saying, I mean, is that too many cooks in the kitchen?
05:10Or, I mean, and we were breaking it down yesterday.
05:12I was just saying, well, if all of those voices match Kevin Stefanski,
05:16I think this should be fine.
05:18Yeah, I think so.
05:20And, you know, they have a really good experience, coaches in that quarterback room.
05:24And it kind of made my ears perk up when Stefanski was talking yesterday
05:28about Alex Van Pelt and just how much trust he has in him
05:31and the experience that he has working, obviously, with Aaron Rodgers for a long time.
05:35And he said that there's a really kind of good camaraderie, not just between the players,
05:40but with the coaches, too.
05:42And I'm with you, Randy.
05:43Like, I always do worry about too many cooks in the kitchen.
05:47Of course, you know, Arthur Smith's staff was kind of criticized for not having enough cooks.
05:51Raheem Morris has maybe also had, I think he had one of the biggest coaching staffs overall in the NFL.
05:55So I don't know if it matters if you have a lot or a little coaches.
05:59I think that it just matters if they're all rowing in the same direction.
06:01And so I think that Kevin Stefanski is well set up to have the guys do that.
06:06But I also think from the top down, you know, in the conversations I've been having,
06:10it feels like everybody loves working under Matt Ryan
06:14because he's allowing them to just basically dive into exactly what their core competency is
06:20and just focus on that.
06:22And I think that that, you know, manifests itself from the people who are selling season tickets
06:28to the people who are in that quarterback room
06:30trying to get the best quarterback play out of this team.
06:33Joe Patrick, Falcons insider and, of course, designated putter,
06:38is joining Andy and Randy today.
06:40John, for game for Andy.
06:41Joe, obviously quarterback's going to be a, quarterback room's going to be a battle.
06:46What other position battles as you start to think about going towards mandatory minicamp next month?
06:52Wide receiver two, is right tackle going to be one of those positions?
06:58Is there an outside linebacker position that might be a position battle?
07:02What other position battles do you see?
07:06Yeah, I think you're right.
07:07Yeah, I think wide receiver, there's definitely going to be opportunity there for players to, you know, get snaps.
07:14And there's going to be, I don't know if it's going to be like a pecking order, really,
07:17like in the way that some other positions are because of the way that personnel gets mixed and matched offensively.
07:21But, you know, I think that there's great opportunity there for a guy like Zachariah Branch, you know,
07:25a third-round pick to, you know, really make his mark on this team and do things in this offense
07:31where he is kind of an easy-button type of player where you can just get him the ball and
07:35let him go.
07:36So, I think he's got, you know, great opportunity, but there's a lot of guys in that room.
07:39Off-ball linebackers, what I'm looking at, and frankly, in my opinion,
07:43one of the more vulnerable aspects of the Falcons' team right now as far as the positions go
07:48because of the loss of Cade Nellis and just not really having, you know,
07:52replaced him necessarily guy for guy.
07:54And Jeff Ulbrich said that it was going to take more than one player to do that.
07:57So, I think there's going to be a lot of room for competition there,
08:00especially with all the guys they brought in.
08:02You know, Channing Tyndall, the former UGA player, Christian Harris from Alabama,
08:06Troy Anderson, we still don't know what he's going to be.
08:08You know, there's going to be a lot of options to choose from.
08:11It just matters who steps up and wins that job.
08:13That's what I'm going to be looking at.
08:14How has Zachariah looked, Joey?
08:16I mean, you've seen clips of him and everything.
08:17We know he's got the Zuzus and everything, but how has he looked so far?
08:22I mean, it's still just the first week up on field with these guys,
08:24but what have you seen from him?
08:27Yeah, no, he looked exciting.
08:28I think there's a reason why, outside of just the fact that he, you know,
08:32went to Georgia and has the affinity of fans for that reason,
08:36it's because of the kind of player that he is.
08:38You know, he's a guy, like I said, he's kind of an easy-button player.
08:40What I mean by that is you can just kind of get the ball in his hands.
08:44You can kind of manufacture that, whether that's jet sweeps,
08:47his little screens.
08:48He's certainly going to make an impact on special teams as a kick returner,
08:53which is, you know, this team is really, really needed.
08:55In fact, I thought that it would have been worth the Falcons' while to just draft
09:00a guy like Caden Weijin, who's basically just a straight-up returner.
09:03And in Zachariah Branch, they've got a guy who is almost or maybe as good as Weijin,
09:08but plus can do things offensively.
09:10And he's just looked good.
09:11He doesn't look out of place, you know, when we've gotten some of the more senior players
09:15around them for OTAs.
09:16So just a really, really exciting player that I think everybody's looking forward
09:19to seeing what he can do this year.
09:21You know, Joe, Randy, I'm going to ask you this first because I'm curious.
09:24You know, those of us who didn't play the game like you did, Randy and Joe,
09:27you can jump in here too.
09:28When we get things like when the weekly schedule comes out,
09:31we all break it down and go, when's the bye?
09:33When's this?
09:33When's that?
09:34Who are you opening?
09:36Randy, do players do that?
09:37Or do they just look at the schedule and go, eh, and throw it down and go,
09:39we'll worry about that then?
09:40Well, I think it depends on, I mean, I think when I was in Miami,
09:43you wanted to see when you had to go to the cold, Buffalo, New England, and New York.
09:47Obviously, the bye week is going to be there.
09:50And then in San Diego, it was where are we going east of Kansas City?
09:54Because everything east of Kansas City and east would be a two-day trip.
09:57So we're like, okay, it was Friday night.
09:59Which city are we going to be in for Friday night dinner and things like that?
10:02But, like, as far as, yeah, it's mainly the bye week.
10:05And when and if, also night games, but more than anything,
10:09when you are going to be in cold outside weather.
10:14And, hey, to that point about, Randy's point about traveling west,
10:18it is kind of nice, while the schedule is difficult
10:21and they've got those primetime games early,
10:23there are certain reasons why it's going to be difficult for the Falcons,
10:25they don't have a long road trip outside of, obviously, the Madrid trip.
10:29But the furthest west they're going to go this year is New Orleans.
10:31So that's really nice, especially for them last year
10:35where they had to make two separate west coast trips.
10:37Usually the NFL tries to schedule it so that if you do have two west coast teams,
10:41you don't have to actually make two trips out there.
10:43You can kind of do it in one swing.
10:44That happened with the Falcons in 2022, I believe it was.
10:48So pretty nice, though, that they don't really have to do a ton of traveling.
10:51And not just like, obviously, you're flying.
10:53There's not that much of a difference between whether you're going to New Orleans
10:56or somewhere further north.
10:58But you don't have to cross those time zones and get out into that west coast time zone
11:01that seems to kind of screw with some players.
11:03But I know that the team was a little perturbed at not getting the bye initially
11:07after that international game.
11:10And so they have just one little game against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs
11:15that you've got to do before you get that bye.
11:16No big deal.
11:18Well, Joe, hit them straight.
11:20We appreciate you joining us.
11:22And hopefully, you know, you're out there doing God's work for the puppies,
11:27as you would like to say.
11:28So we appreciate you.
11:29I appreciate you recognizing me.
11:31And I feel like I've been on the Stairmaster.
11:33Now I've played a hole while trying to talk to you guys.
11:35I'm not built for that yet.
11:37I guess I need my own training camp.
11:38Oh, man.
11:39Well, there you go, Joe.
11:40Appreciate you, my man.
11:42Thanks, guys.
11:42Thanks, Joe.
11:43That's Joe Patrick, our Atlanta Falcons reporter.
11:46He joined us on the Sweet James Accident Attorney's Hotline
11:50as he is out there playing golf, which, I mean, it's nice weather today, John.
11:54It's supposed to rain in and out.
11:55How is the weather up north where you are?
11:58Oh, like, yeah, rain too.
12:00I mean, yeah, we had flooding yesterday.
12:02So, yeah, I know.
12:04Yeah, it's the same as it is, you know, cool and rainy.
12:07But it's all good.
12:09I'm not playing any golf these days because, well, I suck at it.
12:12Let's just start there.
12:13Yeah.
12:14It's not a whole lot of fun.
12:16I used to be good.
12:18Hold on.
12:18How do you used to be good at something?
12:21Because you played a lot, you know?
12:23Okay.
12:23All right.
12:24Okay.
12:24I mean, you used to be good at football.
12:25You think you're going out there playing football now?
12:27No, because I'm old.
12:29Yeah.
12:29Yeah.
12:30I'm a broken down bum.
12:32Well, I'm not no bum, but I'm broken down.
12:34You know?
12:35So, no, I can't go out there again.
12:36I don't want nobody hitting me no more.
12:37And you're 20 years younger than me.
12:38Yeah, but that's what I'm saying.
12:39But you think about the physical toll I put my body through.
12:44We're the same age.
12:45Right.
12:45No, we're kind of the same age, if you look at it that way.
12:48Yeah, you're probably in better shape than me.
12:51But, hey, I'm not at the Y like you on the Stairmaster, John.
12:55You know?
12:55I know.
12:57Is that all you do?
12:58Do you do it in, like, at Lithgow, or are you just on the treadmill?
13:02Yeah.
13:02No, treadmill, Stairmaster.
13:04Okay.
13:04You know, all the free weights.
13:06You know, I'm up on the big stage doing all the bench presses.
13:09Oh, you're trying to get them yaks right.
13:11All right, John.
13:11Well, I mean, the maven, you got to look good for the maven.
13:14I understand that, John.
13:15Everybody should want to look good for they lady.
13:17And I can see you up there right now.
13:20You know, I don't mind getting old.
13:21I don't want to get, you know what I don't want to get?
13:23I don't want to get soft.
13:26Soft with body?
13:29Or soft, like, go to break.
13:31Okay.
13:31All right.
13:31Okay.
13:31Okay.
13:32All right.
13:32Let me stop.
13:33Let me stop.
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