By Steven Taranto
After being named the new starting quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons ahead of their Week 16 matchup against the New York Giants, Michael Penix told reporters on Wednesday he learned he would be taking over while waiting on line for a hot dog at Costco. The No. 8 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft will make his first career start on Sunday after taking over for incumbent veteran Kirk Cousins.
Penix explained that he was shopping at Costco with his girlfriend, and he was hungry enough to indulge in the company’s famous $1.50 hot dog — until he learned that he was being moved up the depth chart.
“I was actually getting a hot dog, and whenever I got the call I wasn’t hungry no more,” Penix said, eliciting laughs from local reporters.
Despite a 15-9 win over the Las Vegas Raiders that snapped a four-game losing streak and improved them to 7-7, the Falcons made the move to start Penix after Kirk Cousins’ play dramatically declined over the second half of the season. Cousins threw for just 112 yards in Atlanta’s win over the Raiders, and he had thrown only a single touchdown to nine interceptions over his last five games.
With an NFC South title and a playoff spot on the line, Penix now receives his opportunity to play after spending most of his rookie season on the bench behind Cousins, with the Falcons’ early-season success having staved off a quarterback controversy until this point.
“As you can imagine it was some nerves, it was excitement, but I’m just super blessed to be in this position,” Penix said of being named the starting quarterback. “Super blessed to be on this team, for the opportunity. Like I always say — my family, they always say just trust in God and trust in the process and go about each and every day with that trust and belief that whenever it’s your time, it’s your time. And they called last night and they said it was my time.”