Seven takeaways as Atlanta Falcons head into summer, starting at quarterback

New York Times

a day ago

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — After two days of mandatory minicamp practices, the Atlanta Falcons have a final day of spring meetings on Thursday before breaking for the summer. The team won't reconvene until late July when training camp begins.
The Falcons were on the field Tuesday and Wednesday, but head coach Raheem Morris referred to those workouts as 'big-time walk-throughs,' and the only 11-on-11 drills came at the end of each practice featuring the team's rookies and developmental players. A full 10 minutes of Wednesday's practice included offensive skill players competing in a quarterback drill, trying to throw a football into a trash can in the corner of the end zone 30 yards away.
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The Falcons' focus for the week was 'above the neck,' Morris said. Still, there were things to learn about this team heading into the summer break.
Here are seven offseason Atlanta takeaways:
It's noteworthy how little doubt exists in Atlanta that second-year quarterback Michael Penix Jr. can carry an offense that will be expected to put up big numbers this year. Penix started the final three games of the 2024 season and impressed his teammates and coaches, but his numbers didn't scream a sure thing. He was 27th in the league in passer rating (78.6) and 29th in completion percentage (58 percent), with three touchdown passes and three interceptions from Week 16 through Week 18.
However, what the Falcons have seen from Penix behind the scenes, combined with his poise on the field, has coaches and teammates convinced he's bound for a big year.
'He gives us a huge confidence boost, and that arm is crazy,' wide receiver Drake London said. 'Can't wait to see what he can do with it this year.'
Atlanta made clear in Penix's three starts that it will lean on his arm talent to power its offense. The University of Washington product was eighth in the NFL in passing yards (737) in the final three weeks of the season.
'He was at a very high level last year,' Morris said. 'Shocked us all last year at where he was. So, I'm really fired up and really pleased where he can go to the next step and take the next step.'
MP9 👁️@themikepenix pic.twitter.com/4hhXJkEYRV
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) June 11, 2025
Fifth-year tight end Kyle Pitts attended minicamp but was never spotted on the field as the team is being 'extremely cautious' about a foot injury he is dealing with, Morris said.
'Everybody is in different spots when you're talking about injuries,' Morris said. 'Hopefully, he's going to be fine, and we look forward to him being back for training camp.'
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Falcons coaches continue to be publicly supportive of Pitts, but Fox Sports' Jordan Schultz reported multiple teams have reached out to Atlanta to inquire if Pitts might be available via trade. For now, that answer is no.
'I have a lot of belief in him,' Morris said. 'He's super talented. That's always going to be the thing that gives you hope on Kyle.'
Pitts had 68 catches for 1,028 yards as a rookie but has only had 128 catches for 1,625 yards in the last three seasons. He'll play this season on his fifth-year option.
'He's done such a great job of all the things we have asked him,' Morris said. 'He's been absolutely outstanding to be around.'
It sounds like Atlanta's defensive playbook will shrink this year while the unit's energy and volume increase. The Falcons remade their defensive coaching staff in the winter, hiring Jeff Ulbrich as defensive coordinator, Mike Rutenberg as defensive pass game coordinator and Nate Ollie as defensive line coach.
Rutenberg and Ollie, in particular, are notably active on the field and, according to their players, in the offices.
'Ruty's got a lot of energy,' cornerback A.J. Terrell said. 'He's somebody every football team needs. I know every building has got somebody like Ruty. First time I met him, I had gone upstairs to the offices. I was just up there to see all the new faces. He's like, 'Don't call me coach, I'm Ruty.' We went right into his office and talked about life, didn't even talk about football. He wants to be our best friend, can't wait to continue to work with him.'
Ollie is so loud in defensive line meetings that other coaches close the door to their meeting rooms, defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro said.
'There has not been one day he is not yelling at the top of his lungs,' Orhorhoro said.
In return for asking their players to go extra fast on every snap, the Falcons defensive coaches will be scaling back what they ask those players to do.
'Brick and Ruty have had a lot of success in their system by putting high-end athletic guys on repeat,' Atlanta linebackers coach Barret Ruud said.
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Free-agent linebacker Divine Deablo noticed that quickly upon his arrival.
'We're just going to play fast and not think,' Deablo said. 'They just want everybody to have simple jobs and going full speed.'
The increasing complexity of NFL's offenses necessitates a scaling back on defense, said Ulbrich, who is intent on giving his players a set of rules they can apply even to offensive looks Atlanta hasn't practiced against.
'I could say, 'I'm just going to throw chaos back at (the offense).' That works for some people, but I don't feel good about that,' Ulbrich said. 'When a player comes to the sideline and we got beat, I need to give him an explanation of exactly what happened and how we fix it. If I can't do that, that's a fireable offense as far as I'm concerned. So, as they get more complex, and in my opinion, we get simpler.'
So far, Morris believes the risk the team took by trading back into the first round to draft edge rusher James Pearce Jr. is paying off. Pearce didn't have a first-round grade from some teams due to concerns about off-field issues, two league sources told The Athletic, but Atlanta did extra background work on him before the draft, and Morris has been happy with Pearce's 'willingness to collaborate with the people that we hooked him up with,' the coach said.
'He was one of the guys that we dug into a bunch and really fell in love with the guy and who he is, the honesty,' Morris said. 'Being around him, it's been a lot of what I thought and what I expected.'
Morris gave Pearce a locker next to Terrell, the veteran cornerback, hoping Terrell's work ethic would be a good example for the rookie.
'Cool dude, man, mature,' Terrell said.
The quietest development of minicamp that could end up having the largest impact on the team is the return of safety DeMarcco Hellams to the practice field.
Hellams played 15 games as a rookie in 2023, starting four times, but missed all of 2024 due to an ankle injury. He looked smooth and healthy this week in less-than-full-speed practice work, and veteran safety Jessie Bates believes Hellams can be a key contributor even with the addition of free agent Jordan Fuller and rookies Xavier Watts and Billy Bowman to the secondary.
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'He's the enforcer in our room,' Bates said. 'When we put on the pads, you'll know Hellams is back out there. He's pissed off right now. We call him Bamm-Bamm. He wants to hit people.'
Morris is more than happy to have running back Bijan Robinson emerge as the face of his team. The head coach has spoken glowingly about the third-year running back throughout the offseason, and in March, the pair flew to New York to attend a boxing match between Tank Davis and Lamont Roach along with some of Morris' longtime friends.
'Me and him got to bond, and he got to know who I was more as a person,' Robinson said. 'I have a cool friend group, I think, but them dudes are wild. They are super funny, super sweet people. It's endless jokes. You can tell they all grew up together, and that love is always there. It's just cool to see where he came from and who he is, too. Me and him are just real similar people in that we try to be great people to everybody. If you can build chemistry with your coach, that is huge.'
The 48-year-old Morris called the 23-year-old Robinson 'an old soul.'
'He is the hardest person on the team to talk about,' Morris said. 'He's such a great player, such a great human. I love being around him.'
It's possible but unlikely the Falcons will move veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins before the return to training camp. Cousins, who told team owner Arthur Blank in March that he would prefer to be traded or released after being benched in favor of Penix, attended mandatory minicamp this week and committed to doing everything he can to help the team as long as he's around.
It still would benefit the Falcons in many ways to trade Cousins, but there will be little incentive to do that during the break. Instead, Atlanta is likely to wait and see if a team gets desperate due to injury or ineffective play at the position once players are back on the field.
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'I've always believed in what Mike Shanahan told me my rookie year, which is tough times don't last, tough people do,' Cousins said. 'You have to be resilient. Life is going to have some curveballs, and you just have to keep moving. I think the key is that you don't pout or stop, you just keep moving forward and believe if you do that good things will happen.'
(Top photo of Michael Penix Jr.: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)