{"id":263780,"date":"2026-09-21T22:17:05","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T22:17:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/21\/loser-suits-up-freed-from-cooper-rush-nfl-fans-split-as-falcons-announce-michael-penix-jr-qb1-for-week-3\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T22:17:05","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T22:17:05","slug":"loser-suits-up-freed-from-cooper-rush-nfl-fans-split-as-falcons-announce-michael-penix-jr-qb1-for-week-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/21\/loser-suits-up-freed-from-cooper-rush-nfl-fans-split-as-falcons-announce-michael-penix-jr-qb1-for-week-3\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cLoser suits up\u201d \u201cFreed from Cooper Rush\u201d: NFL fans split as Falcons announce Michael Penix Jr. QB1 for Week 3"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5219948\" data-slug-id=\"2839357\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Atlanta is heading into Green Bay for Thursday Night Football sitting at 0-2 with Michael Penix Jr. as their starting quarterback. This will mark Penix Jr.&#8217;s season debut and his first game back since suffering a season-ending knee injury.<\/p>\n<p>NFL fans shared their takes after ESPN Senior NFL Insider Adam Schefter reported the news on X on Monday.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"template__newsletter-inline-banner-form-combo-widget\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<p><img id=\"subscribe-img\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\nThanks for the submission!\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p><template id=\"bets-today-poll\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"preview-card-holder bets-today-poll\">\n<p><span class=\"date\"\/> \u2022 <span class=\"time\"\/><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Atlanta is a joke! Matt Ryan is going to tank the team and pick Archie. This is a [ ] show,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Post1972FL\/status\/2102137665504137675\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">wrote<\/a> one fan.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"bottom-tagline top\" data-tab=\"top\">\n<p>Looking to predict NFL playoff Scenarios? Try our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/nfl\/nfl-playoff-predictor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\" class=\"bottom_tagline_link\" data-tab=\"top\">NFL Playoff Predictor<\/a> for real-time simulations and stay ahead of the game!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Falcons fans being freed from cooper rush,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PrizePicks\/status\/2102136302191653153\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">wrote<\/a> another fan.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>A third fan <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/thyhateus215\/status\/2102135446645899676\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">commented<\/a>, &#8220;Now they\u2019ll only lose by 20 instead of 30.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>More NFL fans shared their takes.<\/p>\n<p>Cooper Rush started the first two games of the season while Penix finalized his rehab and ramped up to 11-on-11 work.<\/p>\n<p>Atlanta enters Week 3 at 0\u20132 after a 20\u201313 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers and a 34\u20133 blowout loss to the Carolina Panthers.<\/p>\n<p>The Falcons are currently the only team in the NFL that has not reached the red zone through two weeks.<\/p>\n<p>Penix suffered a partially torn ACL in his left knee during Week 11 of the 2025 season (November 2025) and underwent season-ending surgery.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2><strong>Michael Penix Jr. hit a major personal milestone amid rehab<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/nfl\/michael-penix-jr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Michael Penix Jr.<\/a> married his longtime partner, Olivia Carter, on May 2. The couple got married in Georgia at Ch\u00e2teau \u00c9lan.<\/p>\n<p>Penix and Carter first met while he was playing quarterback at the University of Washington. After dating for some time, Penix proposed to Carter in late December 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Carter graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno, in 2022. While at Nevada, she played Division I college soccer for the Wolf Pack.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Oindrila Chowdhury<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/nfl\/news-nfl-fans-split-falcons-announce-michael-penix-jr-qb1-week-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Atlanta is heading into Green Bay for Thursday Night Football sitting at 0-2 with Michael Penix Jr. as their starting quarterback. This will mark Penix Jr.&#8217;s season debut and his first game back since suffering a season-ending knee injury. NFL fans shared their takes after ESPN Senior NFL Insider Adam Schefter reported the news on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":263781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6806],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-263780","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gossip"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}