FLOWERY BRANCH — Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and Washington’s Jayden Daniels spent hours together working on their footwork, learning about nutrition and hurling passes together under the California skies during the predraft process.
Now, with both of their teams fighting to make the NFC playoffs, they will meet on the field, as the Falcons (8-7) are set to play the Commanders (10-5) at 8:20 p.m. Sunday at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland.
“Me and Mike are boys,” Daniels told Washington media members Tuesday. “We trained together. We went through the draft process together so we built a relationship over that time. I’m happy for him. He waited his time. He’s a phenomenal player. I’m excited to be able to matchup against him.”
The respect is mutual.
“We reach out to each other,” Penix said. “I talked to him last week on the phone. You know, him and Sam Hartman, he’s on that team over there, too. I trained with both of those guys in the offseason. So, now I talk to those guys. Those are my guys.”
Daniels, who taken second overall in the NFL draft this year, opened the season as the starter in Washington. Penix, who was taken eighth overall by the Falcons, is set to make his second start after backing up Kirk Cousins for most of the season.
Daniels is coming off leading the Commanders to a dramatic 36-33 victory Sunday against the Eagles, while Penix helped the Falcons defeat the Giants 34-7 in his first NFL start.
“He’s just cool,” Daniels said. “A cool individual. One of the guys. Really down to earth, humble and super funny. He likes to rap. Freestyles off the top of his head.”
Penix studied Cousins’ every move as he got the Falcons off to a 6-3 start. Cousins then went into a decision-making funk that led to four consecutive losses. After a win against the Raiders on Dec. 16, the Falcons elected to start Penix.
While waiting for his opportunity, Penix was following Daniels’ exploits closely.
“It’s great to be able to see him doing what he’s doing, the way that he’s playing,” Penix said. “He’s been playing really good football, and I expected nothing less.”
They spent a lot of time with John Beck at the 3DQB facilities in California. It’s the same group that Matt Ryan used to train with under the direction of Tom House, the former Braves pitcher turned quarterback guru.
“Just being able to train with him, he’s a smart player, instinctual player, and a player who knows how to play the game,” Penix said. “So, it is good to be able to see that, and for me to be able to be out there and be able to make some plays as well.”
Penix and Daniels hope they can be an inspiration to the up-and-coming quarterbacks.
“Yeah, I mean, I’m 24, but yeah, I mean, it’s fun to be able to know that we’re an inspiration to the younger quarterbacks coming up,” Penix said. “We just look forward to setting a good example. You know, we want to be those good role models and guys who are truly students of the game and go out there and truly love the game and give what the game gives us.”
The workouts were highly technical. They generally stressed mechanics and the fundamentals of passing.
“Yeah, it was always different times, you know, whatever our coach wanted us to do,” Penix said. “But we would work out for about two hours and get a lift in and stuff like that. But obviously it was different because it’s combine work, so we did a lot more than what we probably do in the offseason this year or this next year.”
With the season on the line, the Falcons are counting on Penix.
“He’s played in a lot of big football games,” Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson said. “He’s played in big games at Indiana. He’s played Ohio State. He’s played in a huge, obviously, national championship (game against Michigan). The semifinal last (season) against Texas. So, he’s been on the big stage.”
Penix thrived as a collegian in big games.
“He invites the big stage,” Robinson said. “It seems like he’s so poised and so calm that nothing phases the guy. Would anticipate that for him. I’m sure there’s pregame jitters, just like everybody has, but once the ball is kicked off and he’s under the lights, he’ll go perform.”
Robinson, who’s in his first season of calling plays in the NFL, and Penix will work their second game together. His approach for Penix is different from what it was for Cousins.
“I would say it’s quite a bit different,” Robinson said. “Both guys do things really well, and both are very different. It’s up to us as coaches to put together the best plan, just like we did with Kirk all throughout the season.”
The Falcons didn’t launch a lot of deep passes against the Giants.
In part because Penix didn’t practice with the first-team receivers until last week. It probably will take some time for the timing and precision to be developed on those plays.
“So, we did the same thing this week, putting together the plan for Mike,” Robinson said. “Obviously, we were able to activate a few different things with his skill set, but it’s us collectively as coaches, putting our heads together, knowing which guy does each thing well. I thought the guys did a great job with it.”
Penix, who was running the scout team until last week, has had to get up to speed with the first-team offense.
“He did a great job catching up with the skill guys last week,” Robinson said. “I mean, he had never thrown a pass to those guys, and so to see them accelerate that learning curve over the handful of days before the game was pretty cool to see. Those guys were throwing and catching and just trying to get used to each other.”
The timing on the shorter and intermediate routes was aligned against the Giants.
“Some of the timing that some of the routes were coming out seemed like those guys have been playing together for multiple years, so it was cool to see it all come together,” Robinson said. “A lot of work to still do, obviously, with Mike with the rest of the receivers getting on the same page with (wide receiver) Drake (London) and a couple things here and there, but they’ll just continue to get better.”
The forecast calls for light rain for Sunday night. Penix, who played in Seattle, could feel at home.
“I guess you could say so, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to make plays,” Penix said. “It doesn’t matter what the weather is. This team is looking at each other to make plays. That’s what we’re going to go do. We can’t control the weather. What we can control is our execution and the way we go out there and attack that day. So, we’ll be ready for it.”
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