Those Falcons fans who came to the team’s headquarters to watch the last day of training camp saw more than just a typical team practice, as the team got physical with the opposing Tennessee Titans in joint practices this morning.
There were numerous skirmishes between the teams today, but the one that got the most attention involved QB 1 Michael Penix Jr., immediately after he threw a deep pass to Ray-Ray McCloud III that led to a touchdown.
Penix celebrated that TD, but Titans players weren’t impressed and responded, igniting a brawl, with Penix at the bottom of a pile of fist-swinging ballers. Penix was pulled away from the scrum by his teammates, but not before firing some choice words back at the Titans players.
The normally mild-mannered Penix said in a presser after the encounter, “That was somebody else out there.” He told the press that he likes to compete at a high level and would rather let his playmaking skills do his talking. But if someone gets on his bad side…
“They probably looked at me as just a quarterback,” he said. I wasn’t that type of person. But…I’m from Tampa.” And Penix was not gonna tolerate the disrespect shown by the Titans players. He told the press that the Titans were mocking the Falcons the entire practice, “so I gave them my words,” he said.
The Falcons will see the Titans again this Friday night for their preseason game. As chipy as it was this morning at practice, will that tension resurface when they meet again then?
Photo credit: Brian Allen
