The knee injury that knocked QB Michael Penix Jr. out of Sunday's loss to the Panthers might end his season, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Atlanta announced after this initial posting that Penix is headed to IR, meaning he'll miss at least four games. The Falcons already sit 3-7, so it's tough to imagine bringing Penix back in a month making much sense.
Schefter: "Penix will be seeking a second opinion, but it is not encouraging."
Falcons statement, via NFL Network's Ian Rapoport: "We are working through the medical process to determine the severity of the injury."
Yep. As we all know, those seeking a second medical opinion aren't usually just shopping for a second doctor to confirm how pretty their knees are.
We'll watch for further updates on Penix's diagnosis, including whether it could affect his 2026 outlook. In the meantime, we have to assume it'll be Kirk Cousins the rest of the way.
As I mentioned with the previous -- rosier -- injury update on Penix, Cousins hasn't been very good in his limited duty this year. He's averaging just 4.8 yards per pass attempt on 52 throws this season after going 6-of-14 for 48 yards in relief against the Panthers.
Cousins, of course, got benched late last season for his lackluster performance. That found a better 7.7 YPA but just a 4.0% TD rate and 3.5% INT rate.
The lowered passing ceiling is terrible news for WR Drake London, who's also dealing with a knee injury that appears likely to cost him further time.
Cousins might, however, be good news for WR Darnell Mooney. Before Cousins got benched last year, Mooney was averaging:
This season finds Mooney at:
He's also working on a career-worst 33.3% receiving-success rate after posting a career-best 51.9% last year, according to Pro Football Reference.
We'll see about the impact on other offensive pieces, but don't expect large moves in our rest-of-season rankings on this QB change.
Cousins should get picked up in superflex and 2-QB leagues this week, but he won't make for a strong fantasy play.
Atlanta's schedule looks negative for QB scoring overall the rest of the way, starting with a New Orleans matchup that's probably been worse for the position than you'd guess (seventh-toughest by our adjusted fantasy points allowed).
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport again called this latest injury a "reaggravation" of the bone bruise in his Monday morning report and didn't mention the possibility of Penix missing the rest of the season.
Contrary to what Schefter reported early Monday, the left knee is not the one Penix had reconstructed twice in college. Although the QB suffered injuries to both joints, it was the right knee in which he twice tore the ACL.
We'll see where this latest knee trauma goes.
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