Tony Gonzalez said the key to the Atlanta Falcons’ success hinges on Michael Penix Jr. (Photo by Kevin Langley/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Tony Gonzalez is well aware of all the weapons the Atlanta Falcons have at their disposal.
Despite ending the season at just 8-9, the Falcons ended the year as one of the hottest teams in the NFL with a four-game win streak. They accomplished this with backup quarterback Kirk Cousins taking snaps, with big wins over the Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Perhaps most importantly, tight end Kyle Pitts finally started living up to his potential as a former No. 4 overall pick in the draft. The 25-year-old tight end turned his first All-Pro season after posting a career-high 88 receptions on 928 yards with five touchdowns. Pitts’ catches and receiving yards ranked second among all tight ends in the NFL this season.
Gonzalez recognizes that a big key is bringing back Pitts, who will be a free agent this offseason. Matt Ryan – the former franchise quarterback – is tasked with leading the Falcons as the new president of football operations. Ryan actually played with Pitts for a couple of seasons during the tight end’s first years in the league.
The Hall of Fame tight end – who works as an analyst for Amazon Prime – was at the Thursday Night Football game where Pitts posted his career game in the win over the Buccaneers. The 6-foot-6 tight end posted a career-high 11 receptions for 166 yards and three touchdowns.
“Incredible football game by him,” said Gonzalez in a one-on-one interview. “You know what he can do. You got to get him back. That’s what I would want if I’m a Falcons fan or the Falcons organization. That would be a priority for me to get him back. I think he wants to be back. He’s comfortable there. He finally figured it out, and he can build off of this.”
It’s clear the Falcons are trending on the way up with how they finished the season. They did this without their young franchise quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who was sidelined for the final several weeks of the season after suffering his third torn ACL. He suffered two prior ACL injuries in college.
Gonzalez said Penix was playing “OK” before his injury. The 2024 first-round draft pick threw nine touchdowns against three interceptions with one of the lowest interception rates at 1.1%. However, he went just 3-6 as a starter and his touchdown percentage rate of 3.3% ranked 37th in the league and was even lower than Cousins’ 3.7% touchdown rate.
The tight end great stressed that it’s extremely important that Penix solidifies that he’s a franchise quarterback for the Falcons to reach their potential in a weak NFC South. They already have the offensive pieces in Bijan Robinson, Drake London and Pitts. Furthermore, they just hired a two-time Coach of the Year in Kevin Stefanski.
“Yeah, definitely, I think Penix is a huge part of that,” said Gonzalez. “You have to develop him. He’s got to play better. He was playing Okay. But he’s got to keep taking that step forward, and he’s got to stay healthy. He’s got the history of being a hurt guy, and if he can stay on that field, availability – I learned that early – when I first got in the league, you got to be available in order to do anything.”
Stefanski’s background is on offense, where he made his name as an offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings while Cousins was a Pro Bowl quarterback.
Gonzalez expresses that he believes Stefanski will get Penix “right” and develop a proper scheme for him.
“Stefanski is going to get him right — I have no doubt about it,” said Gonzalez. “He’s going to come up with a good scheme for these guys. They’re going to put points up. Defensively is a question mark for me. They need to keep building that. I would go heavy on the defensive side of the ball in the draft, but I think the window is just starting to open up. The key is for Penix to stay healthy, but the window is just opening up for this Falcons team over the next two-to-three years.”
Tony Gonzalez Spreading Prostate Cancer Awareness In New Super Bowl Ad
Gonzalez is partnering up with Novartis for a fun – but serious – campaign centered around prostate cancer awareness. The 49-year-old tight end great starred with a number of fellow great tight ends such as Rob Gronkowski, George Kittle and Vernon Davis in an ad that will air during the Super Bowl called “Relax Your Tight End.”
“It’s something that’s personal to me,” said Gonzalez. “My grandfather and my uncles had prostate cancer. On a personal level, it’s something close to me. I’m 49 years old and you get to that age where you know testing is what you should do. This is just an alternative test from the old way, from the other way, with the DRE the digital rectal exam, and a lot of anxiety around getting tested because of that.
“I’ve had it done that way,” Gonzalez continued. “To have a blood test as an alternative is just obviously that barrier to entry. It hopefully can inspire guys to go to the website and get more information on it.”
Former head coach Bruce Arians – who has dealt with prostate cancer awareness himself – also starred in the ad with the emphasis being upon how easy it is to go through screening with a simple blood test.
“The one thing that I found interesting, I didn’t even know, one out of eight men will face prostate cancer in their lifetime,” said Gonzalez. “It’s the most common cancer amongst men and it’s something that if treated early, the survival rate is 99% within a five-year range survival range. It’s something that is near and dear to my heart, and I’m glad to be a part of it with Novartis and these other tight ends that are represented in this commercial. ”