Why Falcons benched No. 1 draft pick in preseason loss to Ravens

When the Atlanta Falcons selected Michael Penix Jr. eighth overall, the thought was the preseason would be his proving grounds. With Kirk Cousins entrenched as the starter, the only chance we would see Penix play is in the three preseason games leading up to the season. Well, head coach Raheem Morris decided this week to bench the number one draft pick for the organization in their preseason loss to the Baltimore Ravens and explained why in his post-game presser.

Does it make sense? Not really. I mean the Minnesota Vikings did lose J.J. McCarthy for the season with a torn meniscus, but that's football. Injuries are part of the game.

Also in play here is the fact that the Falcons lost two significant depth pieces last week in their preseason opener against the Miami Dolphins in edge rusher Bralen Trice and safety Demarcco Hellams . They were able to supplement those two with star signings in Matthew Judon and Justin Simmons , but you will be remiss to find a backup quarterback of that caliber on the market right now.

While confusing, it's understandable why the Falcons sat Penix, the disparity in talent between him and third-string quarterback Taylor Heinicke is vast, enough to have Morris want to preserve his 24-year-old rookie who did have significant injury problems in college.

Even so, not seeing him in the limited capacity that he was expected to play in is disappointing to say the least. Hopefully, he is billed to play next week in the preseason finale against the Jacksonville Jaguars .