- 6 minutes ago
Zinno breaks down the Falcons quarterback situation and why it is understandable how they got to this point.
He dives deeper into what is Matt Ryan’s influence on the QB situation and why Michael Penix Jr. being successful is best for the franchise going forward.
Lastly, he details the Falcons plans for the 2026 season and how it’s going how they thought it would.
He dives deeper into what is Matt Ryan’s influence on the QB situation and why Michael Penix Jr. being successful is best for the franchise going forward.
Lastly, he details the Falcons plans for the 2026 season and how it’s going how they thought it would.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Good morning. Welcome to A to Z here on Sports Radio 929 The Game, where today I tell you there's
00:06only one reason why the Falcons quarterback situation is what it is.
00:10I'll explain that coming up in just a moment, but first, make sure you guys hit that subscribe button and
00:15you are subscribed to everything here on 929 The Game at YouTube and 929thegame.com.
00:20This way you're following along to all the great content you get from all the shows here on the YouTube
00:25page and on 929thegame.com.
00:28Do me a favor, hit a thumbs up to this content, give it a like, let me know.
00:31If you can, drop a comment down below, let me know your thoughts on A to Z and what we've
00:35done for the past couple of shows.
00:36We're going to continue to grow this thing and expand it.
00:39We're going to continue to involve some more people, have some guests along.
00:42We're even going to get you guys, the fans, involved in on this show as we get deeper into football
00:47season.
00:48So we've got a lot going on.
00:50We have three things we're going to talk about today.
00:52One, again, the Falcons quarterback situation, Michael Penix, and, oh, by the way, the big picture of the Falcons season
01:00and why it's not time to panic just yet.
01:02We're going to get to all that coming up in just a moment.
01:05But right now, let's get A to Z underway.
01:07My calculations are correct.
01:10When this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're going to see some serious.
01:16It's time for A to Z with Mark Zeno.
01:20It's elite sports knowledge.
01:23I am the smartest man alive.
01:26It's in-your-face opinions.
01:28In the face.
01:30In the face.
01:31No.
01:31We got some good times.
01:33We hate to.
01:34I have.
01:36And some good information.
01:37Get f***ed in.
01:39When Atlanta talks sports, there's only one place to turn.
01:43You want me on that wall.
01:46You need me on that wall.
01:49A to Z starts now.
01:56All right.
01:57Let's dive right into it, folks.
01:59The Falcons quarterback situation.
02:00I was in Flowery Branch yesterday.
02:03Kevin Stefanski sat there for about 15, 16 minutes.
02:07Took a total of 26 questions.
02:0923 of them revolved around the quarterback situation.
02:13And it became clear to me why we are where we are and how we got here.
02:19And I think this is important to remember because, look, as Falcons fans, I understand the angst.
02:25As a media member, I'm part of the angst.
02:27And I certainly understand why it is frustrating and why we just can't seem to get any clear answers on
02:34this situation.
02:35So, I'm with you on all that.
02:37But let's go back for a second.
02:39If you can step outside your emotions, let's go back for a second and just go over the timeline.
02:46And we'll help you understand how we got to this point.
02:50Because the point that we're all at right now, and let's be clear on this, is that we all feel
02:55like, and to a certain extent, this was confirmed yesterday.
02:58We're waiting on Michael Penix to tell us when he's ready to play.
03:01Right?
03:02Penix also met with the media yesterday.
03:03We'll get to that coming up in a moment.
03:06But that's what we're waiting on.
03:08How did we get here and why are we here?
03:10There's one reason why we're here.
03:12And it can be summed up in three simple letters.
03:15T-U-A.
03:18Tua is why we're here.
03:21Let's hit the rewind button so we can understand the situation that the Falcons organization is in.
03:28Right?
03:29It was the offseason.
03:31They knew Michael Penix was recovering from ACL surgery.
03:34They needed a quarterback on the roster.
03:37After they dumped Kirk Cousins and the other quarterbacks, there was nobody else on the roster other than Penix.
03:41They signed Tua.
03:44At the time, people, myself included, assumed Tua was getting the starting job.
03:49Tua wouldn't have come here if he didn't believe he had a chance to start.
03:52Tua wouldn't have come here if he wasn't told you're going to be the starter.
03:55He knew Michael Penix was injured.
03:57He knew even if it was a competition, he had the inside track, and he was going to do it.
04:01We were all under that assumption.
04:02We were all under that plan.
04:04Nobody really, anybody who was honest with themselves thought Michael Penix was starting week one
04:08because we knew he wasn't going to be ready for training camp.
04:10And once training camp started, he wasn't ready for training camp.
04:14So the point simply is, is that when Michael Penix wasn't ready for training camp, this was Tua's job.
04:23And so now Tua, okay, comes in, and we find the beginning of camp, he's going to get the reps
04:30with the ones.
04:31Tua's hurt.
04:32He doesn't play well.
04:33Well, this all started to unfold.
04:36And by the time we had gotten through the Broncos game and through the joint practices,
04:40it was readily available and aware to everybody that Tua was not ready to play.
04:48He couldn't take the starting job.
04:50A lot of us, myself included, thought maybe Penix will get the job
04:55because we hadn't heard any updates to his status other than he was cleared.
04:59And so we are here because Tua failed as an investment.
05:06Now, you can put that on the organization.
05:07I understand that.
05:08But manifestly, I don't think that matters because Tua was never a long-term investment
05:12and it wasn't a costly investment.
05:14But we got here because Tua could not play, period.
05:19And then even when he was named the starter, he had an oblique injury, he can't play again.
05:23What a mess.
05:24Just objectively put ourselves in this situation.
05:27Like, good or bad, let's just say Tua played average.
05:30He's an average quarterback.
05:31He's a replacement-level quarterback.
05:33And he doesn't get hurt to start camp.
05:34And he plays week one and the Falcons lose.
05:38We're not really sitting here having this conversation about when's Mike going to be back?
05:41When's Mike going to be back?
05:42We're kind of riding this thing out.
05:44And that was the intention of the organization, to ride this out until Michael was ready to play.
05:50And there wasn't going to be pressure on Pennix having to play sooner rather than later because they had a
05:55capable starter in the fold.
05:58That went out the window.
06:00This is why we are where we are.
06:02We are here because Tua failed as an investment and the backup plan is a guy who's not 100%
06:08healthy.
06:08Now, again, let me reiterate that I think the organization, I think the Falcons, did themselves and did Mike a
06:19disservice by clearing him.
06:22Should have never been cleared.
06:24In retrospect, probably should have started preseason on the pup list.
06:28And there are rules.
06:30The problem is if you start him on the pup list, once you practice him, he's got to come off.
06:34So, if he wanted to work with 11 on 11s, he needed to come off.
06:38Now, again, if for some reason Michael Pennix doesn't show up until week five, there are going to be questions
06:43that need to be answered.
06:44Why didn't you put him on IR?
06:46Because IR puts him out for at least four weeks.
06:48After week one, they could have opened the window, three-week window, to put him back on the active roster
06:53and let him start practicing.
06:54And he would have been ready.
06:57But, again, all of this happened because Tua got hurt and Tua stunk.
07:01That wasn't part of the game plan.
07:02And the injury, even to Tua before week one, you can't do anything ahead of time to protect yourself from
07:10when a guy gets injured.
07:11There's no game plan.
07:12You can only react to injuries.
07:14You can't be proactive to injuries.
07:16You have to be reactive when they happen because you don't know when they're going to happen.
07:20This whole mess was created by Tua, and this is where we are.
07:24So, now Mike says he's not ready to play.
07:26Mike meets with the media yesterday.
07:28He says, now he's saying it's not mental anymore.
07:30It's just physical.
07:31He's got a couple more hurdles he needs to clear.
07:34Okay.
07:36I'd just like to say one thing to a group of people out there who already feel like we need
07:44to move on from Mike or Mike's not ready or Mike's not the guy.
07:48I think you're being utterly ridiculous.
07:51And to the crew out there that thinks Michael Penix is weak or soft, you know what?
08:00Again, I can't say this enough.
08:03Okay?
08:04Michael Penix is on his last bullet in the gun.
08:09This is his only shot to stabilize himself as a starter in this league.
08:14If it fails here, and I will get to if it fails coming up in a moment, but if it
08:19fails when he comes back, the Falcons are likely in the market for another quarterback going forward, and he is
08:25not here on the 50-year option, and he is looking for a job somewhere else as a backup in
08:30the future.
08:30Or he's a backup here.
08:33It's not the same as Patrick Mahomes.
08:35Michael Penix addressed that yesterday.
08:37It's not the same.
08:38He's had more surgeries.
08:39They're totally different.
08:40Hell, it's not even the same as Daniel Jones, and I'll tell you why it's not the same as Daniel
08:44Jones.
08:44Daniel Jones just signed an $88 million contract back in March, $60 million of which is guaranteed.
08:52Michael Penix has none of that.
08:54His 50-year option isn't even guaranteed yet.
08:57So the one year where he gets the most money from his rookie deal, not even guaranteed yet.
09:02He has no guarantees for anything.
09:05These are not the same situations.
09:07Penix, when he returns to play, has to play well enough to prove to everybody he is a starter in
09:13this league.
09:14Without question.
09:15Period.
09:16Period.
09:19We have no idea if he is that at this point in time.
09:23But to the people who want to call him weak, and specifically I'll even mention the afternoon show, stop it.
09:30You guys are being ridiculous, and you're wrong, okay?
09:34You don't have to like his decision, but you better respect the fact that he's making the decision on his
09:39timeline
09:39because it's the rest of his career, not mine, not yours, not anybody else's.
09:43And so when you do interview him, and you do ask him the question, don't hide behind what do you
09:49say to people who think that you were weak.
09:52Have the guts, have the balls turn around and say, I think you were weak.
09:56I thought it was a weak decision by you not to play.
09:59That's how you actually own up to what you say.
10:03That requires guts.
10:05Not hiding behind what do you say to people.
10:08No, you said it, you own up to it, you stand behind it.
10:13Beyond all that, let's move on here for a moment because I think this is important, okay?
10:21As we got to this mess, okay, and Kevin Stefanski is sitting up there day in and day out having
10:29to answer the same question over and over and over again
10:31and having to, at this point, sound silly because I had a conversation yesterday with somebody in the Falcons
10:42and I asked the question, I was basically saying, like, the I don't know stance isn't working.
10:47It's what we don't know yet.
10:49We don't know.
10:50I don't know, you know, what Kevin Stefanski has to do to go out there on a day in, day
10:54out basis.
10:55To me, it's just, it's nuts.
10:56I think it's a bad strategy.
10:58That said, let me put this spin on it.
11:02Look at the lengths that the organization is willing to go to protect Michael Penix and the image that he
11:10has from media people like me,
11:15you know, who want to charge and bite people's head off for what we disagree with, right?
11:22It's not just me.
11:23It's generally everybody, but I certainly own up to it when I see something that doesn't pass a smell test
11:28with me.
11:29I go after it.
11:29Look at the amount of energy they are investing into making sure that Penix is protected in this stance of,
11:40instead of just saying, Mike's not ready.
11:43You know, we don't know what, Mike's not going to play, right?
11:49They're sort of leaving the door open every single week for the possibility so we can all believe that Mike
11:57can come in and turn things around.
11:59They are trying to protect him in the stance that they are taking.
12:04And why are they trying to do that?
12:07They are trying to do it because it is in the organization's best interest, short-term and long-term, for
12:14Michael Penix to succeed.
12:17Folks, let's think about this objectively.
12:21For those people who think, well, if this doesn't work out, we'll just go get another quarterback next year in
12:27the draft.
12:28Newsflash.
12:30Part of the decision makers who drafted Penix are going to be part of this decision.
12:36Part of the decision makers who drafted the guy before Penix are going to be part of this decision.
12:40So you tell me why you believe all of a sudden they're going to get it right.
12:46At best, every organization across the board, 50% success rate on quarterbacks in the first round.
12:55Why are you so secure in the fact that when we draft the next guy, he's going to be it?
13:02Bad philosophy.
13:03You're better off with the guy that you know.
13:05It is in the Falcons' best long-term and short-term interest for Michael Penix to be the franchise quarterback.
13:12You don't think that they would rather use the first-round pick next year on another pass rusher, maybe an
13:17offensive lineman,
13:18maybe a linebacker that can get after it?
13:24Isn't that better for the organization than having to draft another quarterback?
13:29Use your head, folks.
13:30The best result is for Michael Penix to work out.
13:34Period.
13:36There is no other better result for this organization.
13:39It's not Arch Manning.
13:40It's not Sam Leavitt.
13:41It's not whoever else is in college right now.
13:44It's not Trinidad Chambliss.
13:45It's not Darian Mensah.
13:48The best result for the franchise is for Michael Penix to be the franchise quarterback going forward.
13:54That has to be plainly obvious to you.
13:56If it's not, I can't help you.
14:00It's in the best long-term interest.
14:01That's why they're going to the lengths they are to protect him.
14:03That's why they are letting this thing play out the way they are.
14:09And that, oh, by the way, I would love to believe is the Matt Ryan influence in this whole thing.
14:15Because Matt Ryan knows better.
14:17Because Matt Ryan realizes having to go draft another quarterback does not make your organization better.
14:23It makes it worse.
14:24And you bring in more variance and more risk and more trouble if you miss again.
14:30I mean, you could sit there.
14:31I could point to every quarterback they drafted in Cleveland for 20 years.
14:34And you can go, we're not Cleveland.
14:39Other than making the Super Bowl, there's probably more similarities than differences.
14:45At least when it comes to that over the last 10 years.
14:50So the point is, again, I'll reiterate it.
14:53The best long-term interest of this franchise is for Michael Penix to work out as a starter.
14:57And that's what you guys as fans should all be hoping for and all be working towards.
15:02Because that is what's going to make this organization the strongest going forward.
15:09Especially given all the pieces that they've already drafted.
15:12It doesn't help you to get another quarterback up to speed two years down the road when more years of
15:18Drake and Bajon and Kyle are not being maximized.
15:24Penix has been working with these guys for three years.
15:27Granted, it's been on and off basis.
15:29But he's been working with them for three years.
15:30He knows them.
15:32He's more likely to get up to speed faster than anybody else.
15:36Right?
15:40So, I don't know how you could be rooting against Michael Penix being the franchise quarterback.
15:47Even if you don't think he is or he hasn't proven it to this point.
15:51It's fair to say he hasn't proven it to this point.
15:53I'm not going to disagree with that.
15:54But that doesn't mean it's not in the best long-term interest for him to be the franchise quarterback.
15:59That is in the best long-term interest of the franchise.
16:03It really is.
16:06I mean, you have to understand that.
16:09I don't know that it needs to be any clearer than that.
16:13It really doesn't.
16:15There's one more point that I want to make here.
16:21And I don't know how, you know, Falcons fans are going to react to this.
16:27But, and I said earlier this week on A to Z, and the clip went out on social, and people
16:34are just losing their minds over it.
16:36And to an extent, I understand why.
16:39Because nobody wants to have patience.
16:41You guys have had patience for a long time.
16:43Some people said 60 years.
16:44Some people said 30 years.
16:46Some people said 10 years.
16:47Some people said whatever.
16:49Like, I get it.
16:51When you haven't won a Super Bowl and you have nothing to hang your hat on, patience isn't a commodity
16:55that you guys really dive into.
16:58So I understand it.
17:00But, if you can try to think like a coach for a minute, and try to think like a person
17:07in the front office, all along, going back to the plan of what I said at the beginning, that Tua
17:13was supposed to give this runway for Penix, right, and turn it over to him.
17:17All along, even by signing Tua, the Falcons were conceding that they were willing to sacrifice some games at the
17:28beginning of the season to get Penix healthy and figure out what they had.
17:34In their mind, it was a good problem to have for Tua to make the team 3-0 when them
17:41have to go, do we go back to Penix now or do we stay with Tua?
17:45Like, that was a problem they were hoping was going to manifest itself.
17:50Even I was somebody who was like, oh my God, that creates a conundrum and it's really bad and everything
17:54else.
17:54But, you know, you get some new information and you start to realize that that would have been a problem
17:59everybody would have been happy to have.
18:01But the idea is always all along, the thought process was that Penix was our future, long term.
18:10Tua was a stopgap.
18:11At best case scenario, who is a year band-aid fix that hopefully you made the playoffs with.
18:18But beyond that, objectively, you had to know that it was always Mike Penix long-term.
18:23Tua was never a long-term solution.
18:25If it worked out that he played well enough, that they were an 11-12 win team and he garnered
18:30a contract, okay, again, good problem to have.
18:34Bad for Michael Penix, bad from a draft pick, you know, we just wasted another one kind of premise, but
18:40good for the organization.
18:42So, they were always willing to sacrifice a couple of games at the beginning of the year to go, maybe
18:48worst case, we get out of the first three weeks one and two and we're not in bad shape.
18:52There are plenty of teams that start one and two and make the postseason.
18:55It's not a death knoll.
18:58It doesn't mean your season is over.
19:02Because it's not.
19:04Like, that's what the coaching staff and the front office is thinking.
19:08When you sit down at the table and you all start to plan the offseason, you sit there and you
19:12go, look, we recognize we're probably going to be behind the eight ball the first couple of games.
19:16And we hope we end up one and two, Mike takes over, you know, in week four against the Saints
19:23in New Orleans.
19:24I feel like we got a good shot.
19:27We win that game.
19:28We get a division win.
19:29You know, if we beat the Panthers, we're two and two.
19:31We're two and oh in the division and we're in great shape.
19:33Like, these are all logical thought processes that the organization had to have had.
19:38But again, I'll reiterate, they were willing to sacrifice games in the beginning of the year.
19:42Stop losing your mind over one week.
19:45Like, I'm not attacking fans, as somebody told me on social media.
19:48I'm not attacking you.
19:51But, like, you have to put some big picture context to this whole thing.
19:57Get out of the first three weeks, one and two.
19:59You win this game, it's a salve that cures a lot.
20:02You lose this game, yeah.
20:04It's not going to go well.
20:06I'm not saying it should.
20:07I'm not saying you should try to put on Falcons colored glasses on this thing and make it into something
20:11it's not.
20:11I'm not saying that at all.
20:12I'm saying that, simply put, they were willing to sacrifice a couple of games.
20:19Figuring, worst case scenario, that they'd be one and two, hopefully two and two after four games, whenever Penix is
20:25back.
20:25Look, I, at this point in time, we don't know when Mike is coming back.
20:29And I'll close on this thought.
20:31Mike met with the media yesterday.
20:33I'll be honest.
20:33Probably not a strategy I would have employed.
20:37Injured players aren't required to talk to the media.
20:42So, I don't know anything other than Mike wanted to clear the air and tell everybody he's a couple of
20:49steps away.
20:50I think when we, if you really peel back the layers, whenever Mike is ready to play was always the
20:57target date for him to come back.
21:00And while we sit here and dissect what game he should come back, when he should come back, at this
21:04point, I don't think you need to care.
21:06The idea is that, that Mike gets back on the field and he plays the best version of himself.
21:14Which, again, I'll circle back.
21:16It's his last chance.
21:17He needs to make sure he's 100%.
21:19I get it.
21:20I don't have to agree with it.
21:22Nobody has to agree with it.
21:23But at least understand the, the logic which he's operating under.
21:27I can't have anything go wrong when I get back in there.
21:30I've got to be the very best, best, best version of myself.
21:35And if he is, it's all going to be okay.
21:39It's all going to be okay.
21:43It's not what a lot of you guys like to hear at this point in time.
21:47And you can scream and yell and you can get mad in the comment section.
21:50You can call me names.
21:51It's fine.
21:52But based off the conversations I have had, I feel like I'm pretty accurate and on track with how things
22:00went down and where we are and why we are where we are.
22:07Again, I think it was a mistake to call him cleared.
22:11I think it was absolutely a mistake.
22:13But there are some NFL rules that require you to be able to practice.
22:17You have to have a certain designation and a certain status.
22:19And, you know, him getting, practicing and getting on the field was the best thing.
22:23But, you know, could have said clear to practice.
22:28Don't know when he's going to be ready to play in a game yet.
22:30Could have provided some more clarity with it.
22:32But can't undo what's been done already.
22:34You just kind of got to ride it out.
22:35And that's what they're doing right now.
22:38But I'll reiterate again.
22:40It is in the best short-term and long-term interest of the organization for Michael Penix to work out.
22:47That's part of the reason why they are being so patient with him.
22:54So, didn't do shovel of wisdom today.
22:56Didn't think we needed it.
22:57We're hot and heavy here.
22:59I'll be on Dukes and Bell filling in for Mike Bell on Friday, coming up September 18th from 2 to
23:056.
23:06Carl and I have already chatted.
23:08We're certainly going to go at it.
23:10I hope you guys will tune in.
23:11Appreciate you watching A to Z.
23:13Again, make sure you're subscribed right here on the YouTube channel.
23:16Give a thumbs up and a like to the content.
23:18Drop the comments down below.
23:19So, hit me up on social at Mark Zinno, M-A-R-K-Z-I-N-N-O.
23:22And we'll be back next week to break down the game with the Panthers and another edition of A to
23:26Z.
23:26Thanks for watching, everybody.
23:27Have a great day.
Comments