Atlanta Falcons receiver Drake London sent an encouraging message to his rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. after the team’s Week 17 loss. The Falcons suffered a 30-24 OT loss to the Washington Commanders on Sunday. Penix Jr. went 19-for-35 for 223 yards a touchdown and an interception.
After the loss, Penix Jr. said London gave him an encouraging message going forward after Week 17.
“Michael Penix Jr. said that Drake London’s message to him was that they will continue to grow and get better from here as they have more time on the field with one another. Penix Jr. said he missed some throws he’d normally make, but the hope is they will keep improving,” Will McFadden wrote.
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In the loss, London recorded seven receptions for 106 yards as he passed 1,000 passing yards for the first time in his career.
Falcons coach discusses clock management in loss to Commanders
Atlanta Falcons coach Raheem Morris said he should have called a timeout late in the fourth quarter.
Darnell Mooney caught a pass for a 25-yard first down to the Falcons’ 44-yard line with around 34 seconds left. However, Morris opted to let the clock run instead of using one of his two timeouts.
On the next play, Penix Jr. threw an incomplete and the Falcons had to settle for a 56-yard field goal which Riley Patterson missed.
“In hindsight, it could have been a good decision or a better decision to take that timeout, but I wanted to have the opportunity to move up there,” Morris said, via ESPN.
“You always second-guess those things, you can always second-guess those motives. You can always go back and look at it and see if you can get it snapped a little bit quicker.”
“We put ourselves in the situation,” Falcons veteran defensive lineman Grady Jarrett said. “We was this close to controlling our destiny and we let it slip. And that’s the reality of it. We got to let it hurt. We got to let it burn.”
The Falcons will host the Carolina Panthers in Week 18 as Atlanta needs to win and have the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lose to make the playoffs.
Edited by Krutik Jain
