If the nine-month period holds up, Penix potentially could be ready for the start of the 2026 season, but there are no certainties, especially for players who have injured both ACLs.
Players recovering from another ACL surgery sometimes take longer to return, and no one yet knows how Penix’s recovery will play out.
But the Falcons do know that while they still have high hopes for Penix and are counting on him to return, they cannot say when that will be — and they will have to address the quarterback position this offseason.
“Right now we’ve got to prepare for the New Orleans Saints, and that’s what we’ll do. That’s always got to be something that’s on your mind, regardless, and definitely puts it on your mind a little bit more when this happens.”
Cousins technically has two years remaining on his contract, but no more guaranteed money triggering. He is scheduled to make $35 million in base salary in each of the next two seasons — a figure that some around the league would consider high for a player who has not played much dating to last season.
Atlanta could look to acquire a less expensive veteran, as some other teams have done in recent years, and most certainly will wind up drafting a quarterback somewhere. But the position, as Morris noted, will have to be addressed.
Atlanta’s hopes, season and future took a major hit last Sunday, when Penix hobbled off the field in what became on overtime loss to the division rival Panthers. The game left the Falcons without their quarterback and with a 3-7 record heading into Sunday’s game against the last-place Saints (2-8).
It marks the fifth season-ending injury in eight seasons between college and the NFL for Penix, who tore his right ACL twice while at Indiana.
Morris noted that Penix is “battle-tested” and said the second-year quarterback has “done nothing but come back stronger every single opportunity he’s been given.”
“The guy’s going to come back stronger for us,” Morris said. “This organization believes in him. His coaches believe in him. His guys believe in him, and he’s going to come back strong for us.”
Penix, 25, completed 60.1% of his passes this season for 1,982 yards, nine touchdowns and three interceptions.
This likely will become the eighth straight season without a playoff berth for the Falcons, their longest drought since their playoff-less eight-year streak from 1983 to 1990.
Making matters worse is the fact that Altanta doesn’t have its 2026 first-round pick, which right now would be a top-10 selection; that pick was traded last April to the Rams for a 2025 first-round pick that the Falcons used on edge rusher James Pearce Jr.
One option could be Kirk Cousins, who is slated to be Atlanta’s starter Sunday at New Orleans.