Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr. Postgame Transcript 11/2

FALCONS QUARTERBACK MICHAEL PENIX JR.

POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE

November 2, 2025

Q: Can you talk about the connection you and Drake [London] had going today to pull y’all back into this one?

MP: Yeah, it was great. Obviously, he’s just being the same person he’s been since I got here – the guy that’s going to make big-time plays in big-time moments. He did that today. It was big props to him, but obviously we couldn’t do it without the offensive line, running backs and tight ends who were all in protection to give us time to make those plays.

Q: We heard on the grounding play that they were clapping and Ryan [Neuzil] thought it was your clap. Walk us through that whole thing.

MP: Yeah, supposedly they were clapping. For us, whenever I’m clapping, that means I want the ball. Neuz [Ryan Neuzil] said he heard them clapping, he thought it was my clap and he snapped the ball. I threw the ball in KP [Kyle Pitts]’s direction. He had just released on a route, so I thought I was going to be okay with the grounding part, but obviously that wasn’t the case.

Q: Mike, how is this team’s confidence? It was so high coming out of Buffalo, and now three losses in a row.

MP: I mean, it’s still high. It’s got to be. It’s NFL football. We’re still in it. We’ve still got a lot of games to go. I know this team is going to bounce back, like you said, and we did before. So, I know it’s nothing new to us. We’ve got to go out there and just make sure each and every day of practice we give our 110% effort like we always do and be ready for this next game coming up. Obviously, long flight out to Germany, but we’re going to be ready for it.

Q: How big was the touchdown right before the half where the defense got the strip sack and almost flipped the game for you guys?

MP: That was real big. It was awesome to see that momentum. Obviously for us, going two plays and scoring a touchdown, that was big-time to bring the game into a one-score game right before the half. It was a great job by the defense. That one and also Jessie [Bates III]’s pick. Those two, I feel like, helped bring us back in the game, and brought a lot of momentum for the offensive side of the ball. We carried it and we put points on the board to help us be in position to win the football game today.

Q: What was slowing you all down on third down? What were they doing on third down?

MP: Yeah, we were just not executing. I’ve got to be better. If it’s getting through my reads, moving on and finding an open guy, or just whatever it could be. But that’s something we got to look at on film, assess and figure out.

Q: Mike, that fourth quarter drive, I know you made some big plays. Drake had some superhuman efforts. You need to tie the game, it doesn’t end up being tied. How frustrating is that?

MP: It’s not frustrating, it’s football. It’s NFL football. Anything can happen. But obviously, you talk about not tying the game, but we still had a lot of time on the clock. I think it was four-and-a-half minutes still on the clock. Defense went out there and got a stop, gave us an opportunity to go out there and put more points on the board, and we didn’t do it. It’s never on one person, it’s never on one play. It’s a whole collective thing. It’s a long game. We have to find ways to execute whenever it’s needed the most.

Q: You threw it 37 times, ran it 14 today. Was that the plan coming in to be so pass-heavy, or was that game script because they got out in front early.

MP: Maybe because they got out in front. I’m not sure. I just run whatever is called. I don’t know. [That’s a] ZRob question.

Q: Just Drake [London]’s performance in general, made some really good catches and had a really good performance.

MP: Yeah, for sure. That’s just him. He’s going to go out there and ball out every time he step on the field. He’s a special player, special person. He does special things each and every week. It’s exciting to see and I’m happy that he’s on our team.

Q: It may be hard to think about at the moment: Are you excited about the Berlin trip or nervous about the Berlin trip? What do you think about that?

MP: We’re going to get to that. We’ve still got to watch this film and figure out what we can could better so we can be better for that trip. We’re going to flush this game after tomorrow, watching the film, and then we will be ready whenever we go out to Berlin. It’s exciting to be able to go out to a different country, go out there, display what we love to do, and doing that at a high level as well. It’s definitely awesome and we’re looking forward to it, though.

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