It may be time for the Atlanta Falcons to wave the white flag on the season.
Falcons starting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. had to exit Sunday’s Week 11 game against the Carolina Panthers with an injury. In the third quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga., Penix was injured after getting his left knee rolled up on upon being pressured by Panthers safety Trevon Moehrig.
Michael Penix #falcons
— Tom Christ, PT, DPT, OCS, FAAOMPT (@FantasyInjuryT) November 16, 2025
Left knee injury after landing directly on the knee while the knee is flexed. Mechanism can cause a PCL injury. Important that it’s his left leg and the one he pushes off the throw. Let’s hope he’s okay pic.twitter.com/7warJfKI2Y
Penix left the game and did not return (with Kirk Cousins closing out the remainder of the contest as the Falcons went on to lose to the Panthers in overtime by a 30-27 final). After the game, bad injury news emerged about Penix.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported that Penix is believed to have aggravated the same injury that he dealt with earlier in the 2025 season. Now there is reportedly concern that Penix will miss “some time.”
The 25-year-old former first-round pick Penix dealt with a bone bruise to that same left knee last month and missed Atlanta’s Week 8 game against the Miami Dolphins as a result (with Cousins also getting the start in relief of Penix during that game). Now just a few weeks later, Penix appears to be have been felled by his troublesome knee again.
With the defeat to the Panthers, the Falcons are now the losers of five straight games, bringing them to an ugly 3-7 on the season. Penix recently made the news after a quote of his controversially got twisted out of context, but now Penix is dealing with a much realer headache here.
