(Photo credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images)

When Michael Penix Jr. is healthy, the Atlanta Falcons expect him to be prominent in the team's quarterback pecking order. Until then, team president Matt Ryan plans to make sure the third-year passer has plenty of support from a new coaching staff.

In comments to Sirius/XM Radio about the cloudy future at quarterback, Ryan attempted to shed light on the team perspective. He initially backed away from a full commitment to Penix in his opening press conference in Atlanta, but Ryan implied the 2024 first-round pick wasn't going anywhere.

'How do you help him improve? No. 1, it starts with surrounding him with really solid coaches,' Ryan said. 'I'm excited about Alex Van Pelt coming in. He's a good football coach. Coming in, you talk about the wealth of experience that he has for a young player like Michael. I think that's really good. You go to the fundamentals; to me, it always comes down to the fundamentals. Do we start with our feet? I know in that interview process, Alex is going to hammer the footwork and going to hammer getting the basics right. So, it starts with the basics.

'Michael does a great job. He can spin the football. We're excited about what he does and we're excited about the staff we're putting around him.'

Penix played in nine games before he tore his ACL, an injury that is all too familiar, as is the recovery and rehab to follow. Penix, determined to get back sooner than projected from his third knee reconstruction surgery, said in early February he's 'a little bit' ahead of schedule and expects to be ready for the first game of the 2026 season.

'Michael does a great job. He can spin the football,' Ryan said. 'We're excited about what he does and we're excited about the staff we're putting around him.'

With Penix on injured reserve watching Kirk Cousins operate the offense, the Falcons missed the playoffs and finished 8-9. Since then, head coach Raheem Morris was fired, the Falcons overhauled their front office and hired Ryan as team president. He went with former Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski in Atlanta's wide-ranging search, which multiplied questions about what the Falcons might do behind center.

Cousins is expected to be released if he doesn't retire by the third day of the new league year (March 13). He agreed to modify the final two seasons of a four-year, $180 million deal that lowered his 2026 base salary from a non-guaranteed $35 million to just $2.1 million. The difference of $32.9 million matches the increase of his 2027 salary. Cousins, who has a no-trade clause, still has a guaranteed $10 million roster bonus for 2026.

--Field Level Media