Hello everyone, Ian McMillan here, and joining me today is the man who is responsible for all
my joy and happiness as a Falcons fan for the foreseeable future, Atlanta Falcons quarterback,
Michael Pennox Junior. Thank you for joining me today. You are partnered with Invisalign, of
course, we are gonna talk about that. But first of all, Mike, how's the, how's the knee
feeling? How's the rehab process going so far? Yeah, I feel great. Uh, I feel like I'm ahead
of schedule, I'm doing all the things I need to do so that I can be back and, and even
better, you know, come next season, so. How different is your offseason gonna look this
year? Uh, obviously you have to spend time rehabbing, but does that mean you spend more
time watching film? What strategies are you gonna have to kind of implement this year, uh,
to kind of make up for the fact that you can't do as many physical things as you normally
would be able to? Yeah, for sure. You know, obviously getting accustomed to, to the offense,
uh, first and foremost, you know, obviously having a new head coach and and um new
coordinator. So just, just learning the offense and, you know, at the same time, like
you said, it's going to be a lot of work on rehab and stuff like that. Make sure that, you
know, I, I am ready to play, but I know whenever the team is back on the field, I will
be on the field throwing as well. So, um, I, I feel like I won't skip a beat in that aspect
other than, you know, maybe just some throwing sessions that I usually would get in, you know,
in this, in these early stages. Now, you're, you have your first year as a starter under
your belt. Now, obviously, we all would have hoped that uh it was a full season and you
hadn't got hurt, but looking back on that season, the games uh that you did play in
before your injury, what are some positives that you take away? When you go back and watch
that game film? Is there something that you feel like you improved on this past season?
Yeah, I feel like I just kept getting more confident as the season kept going on, you know,
obviously, I only played 33 games through my first year, you know, just trying to, trying to
get used to it and, um, but I feel like just getting confidence each and every game and, you
know, just feeling more comfortable in the system and, you know, obviously, Having to
learn a new system now, but you know, I was getting comfortable and, you know, started,
starting to make, uh, I was making a lot of good decisions, I feel like on on the field,
you know, taking care of the ball and, you know, putting us in good positions, but, you
know, it's always another step to it that, you know, I know I have to, you know, be ready to
take this year. So, I obviously have to ask the flip side of that question. Is there
anything from this past season that you look back on, you're like, damn, I kind of have to
do a better job of that in the future? Yeah, um, uh, winning football games, that's what,
that's what about, you know, and whatever my points and that, you know, I gotta make sure I
put us in the best positions always, and, you know, to, to allow us to be able to win those
games, you know, a lot of our games last year were close games, so just finding ways to win
those close games, and, you know, it, it, it could be a, it'll look this season would have
looked totally different, you know, we win one more game. Yeah, now, one of those close games,
uh, that you just brought up, week 9 against the Patriots, which I actually think was one of
your better games this season, threw for 221 yards, 3 touchdowns, no picks. Obviously, one
of those games that unfortunately you guys came up just short in, but, uh, that has to be
encouraging, looking back. In that game, you're right in with the Patriots team who is
obviously now about to play in the Super Bowl. Does that give you, uh, confidence kind of
moving forward that you guys can hang with and even beat, like you did the Bills early in the
year as well, you know, beat the, the, the top teams that the NFL has to offer. Yeah, for sure.
We, we got the team, we got the team to do it, you know, we, we just got to figure it out, you
know, and bring it all together. You know, obviously, we got a new coaching staff, you
know, high praises on this staff and definitely, you know, have a lot of confidence
in, in what they're, they're going to help us do this year and, you know, moving forward. So
it's, like I said, we just got to take that next step and find ways to win those close
games cause in the league, it's always going to be close, you know, you, you're playing
great teams each and every week, so, uh we got to find ways to, to find that edge. Now, I have
to ask you a question here that I'm, I'm sure you, you've answered a lot, but I'm, uh,
obviously curious in this, and it was something that was, you know, kind of talked
about a lot this season is, uh, how much you played in pistol. Is that something that you're
more comfortable with in shotgun and pistol? Do we, should we expect more play under center
moving forward, or are you at your most comfortable when you're in shotgun or in pistol?
Yeah, um, man, I'm comfortable doing either or , you know, that, I, I'll just do what I, what
I'm told. I, I do, I do whatever it's called and, you know, and I got to execute whatever
it's called at the best of my abilities, but it's, it's no The whole shotgun under the
center thing, that's, uh, it's not my call, you know, I, I go out and, um, you know, run
the plays that I'm told to run and, you know, but it's, it's no restrictions or anything like
that, you know, I'm comfortable and confident to do either or, and I know that we'll be, um,
mixing it up a lot this year and I'm super excited for it. Uh, now, let's talk about
something, uh, off the field here, or just before we get into your partnership with
Invisalign. I'm always curious when I'm talking to athletes, who controls the ox court
in the locker room for the Falcons? Is it one guy? Do you switch up who who has control of
the music? How does that work? Uh, it's anybody, you know, it's, it's always at the
front and anybody can go in. I would say, you know, um, Jesse Bates, he probably had, he had
a lot of songs that was played in there. He would go up and change it a lot. Uh, Casey
Washington, you know, he, he would change it a lot. He would, Casey Washington would, he would
bring a different vibe into the locker room. He was more like, uh, slower, slower music,
some R&B, different, different type of vibes, but, um, those two guys I can think of off the
top of my head was always, you know, touching the hot score. What about you? If you're in
charge of the au score, what, what are you putting on? What, what's the vibe that you're
bringing to the locker room for music? Yeah, I'm just bringing Florida, Florida music,
anybody, any artist, Florida. I just try to get the guys to, you know, hear, hear those
Florida guys, and I always try to put them on, so it's Florida music. All right, I love it.
Tell me about your, uh, partnership with Invisalign. Yeah, man, it's, it's awesome, you
know, uh, just, you know, for me, I was always , you know, I, I didn't always have uh a lot of
confidence in my smile. I've never had like terrible teeth, but, you know, I always felt
like it could be straighter and just seeing other people, people around me, and I'm like, I,
I want my teeth to look like that. And obviously, Invisalign can help with that, you
know, and I Obviously, taking care of my, my mental, uh, my oral health is obviously helping
with my physical health on and off the field as well. So it, it's awesome to be a part of
that and, you know, being able to go through this journey and, you know, watching the
changes in my teeth and, you know, allowing me to be confident and, in my smile and, you know,
how I carry myself each and every day it's, it's been great. All right, Mike, last question
for you. Do you have a message for Falcons fans heading into this offseason? Obviously,
this is a team that hasn't made the playoffs since 2017. I know this is only your third year,
but as a fan base, that's kind of desperate to get back to being a contender. What do you say
to the Falcon faithful heading into your second full year as a starter? Man. I'll just
say It's, it's going to be a change. It's going to be a flip of the script. We're going
to win the, we're going to win football games. We're going to get to the postseason, and, um,
you know, I, I have all the confidence in the world in that, you know, we have the team to do
it. We have coaching staff that's coming in here that we have high, um, high hopes on and,
you know, obviously, I, I feel confident in the coaching staff and what they're going to
bring and Obviously getting brick back on, on the defensive side and, you know, seeing what
the defense did last year, you know, for us to have on the offensive side to, you know, get a,
get a fresh start and, you know, just see what we can do on, on that, on our side of the ball.
I know we'll do great things. So, um, once we all playing together, it's, it's gonna be
electric, but I, I'm not gonna say too much other than that. All right, Mike, I appreciate
your time. Thank you so much. I believe in you . I believe in this Falcons team. I'm excited to
watch some playoff football from you guys. Uh, next season. Thanks so much, Mike. Take care.
Good luck. I appreciate you. Thank you.