It was a rough Sunday for the Atlanta Falcons, who not only saw what faint glimmer of hope that they could turn their season around disappear in their 30-27 OT loss to Carolina, but also lost two key players for extended periods of time.
Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. suffered a potentially season ending knee injury with 5:22 remaining in the 3rd quarter. The 25 year old was 13 for 16 for 175 yards before needing to be replaced by Kirk Cousins, with the initial diagnosis looking fairly grim at the moment.
While the club has remained mum on the details of the injury, it’s been reported that Penix and the medical staff are seeking a second opinion, but in all likelihood, season ending surgery seems like the most probable outcome.
The former 1st round draft pick is no stranger to knee issues in his young career. He missed time in Week 7 with a left knee bone bruise, and had 4 season ending injuries in college, two of which were ACL tears.
Making matters worse, the team’s top wide receiver Drake London is also believed to have suffered a PCL sprain in the loss. While London’s injury isn’t expected to be a season ending one, he will likely miss this week’s game vs the Saints, and could need some additional recovery time beyond that as well.
London hauled in 7 passes for 119 yards (17 yard average) in the loss as Atlanta dropped their 5th straight contest, to fall to 3-7 on the year.
Head coach Raheem Morris declined to put any kind of return to play timeline on either Penix or London in his post game comments, but did add that they would be evaluated further this week. Morris’ name has popped up on the coaching hot seat list in recent weeks, and he could very well be coaching for his job this coming Sunday.
A loss to the lowly New Orleans Saints would drop the Falcons into last place in the NFC South, and would make the team hard pressed to replicate even the pedestrian level of success they saw last season when they went 8-9.
Morris took over for Arthur Smith last year, but also spent time as the interim head coach in 2020 after taking over for Dan Quinn. All said, the 49 year old sports a 15-23 record as HC in Atlanta spread across multiple seasons. How the team finishes out 2025 could have a massive effect on whether he gets another shot to turn one of the most talented “on-paper” rosters around again in 2026.
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