Falcons' Penix lands at bottom of pile during scuffle with Titans

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. was surprised to find himself in the middle of a scuffle that interrupted his team's second joint practice with the Tennessee Titans on Wednesday.

After connecting with Ray-Ray McCloud III on a long touchdown pass, Penix said he was “celebrating” with comments he said were delivered in response to “words” from Tennessee players.

“I like to compete at a high level, and when I compete, I don’t really do too much talking,” Penix said. “So somebody says something to me and ... OK, I throw a touchdown. ‘Now what y’all talking about?’ And then I guess not everybody takes that the right way. And I think that’s all it was.”

Penix was thrown to the ground by one or more Tennessee players and ended up at the bottom of a pile of players. He said it was the first time he's been involved in an altercation like that on the field.

The scuffle came only hours after Falcons coach Raheem Morris commended players for competing in the first joint practice Tuesday, “without all the foolish things” like fights on the field.

Tennessee players were critical of their inability to match the intensity of the Falcons' players in Wednesday's first joint practice. The visitors were determined to show more fire in the second joint practice.

“The team had a little scuffle going on, but after the scuffle, we were still able to play football and keep that high intensity,” said Titans outside linebacker Arden Key.

The joint practices were staged at the Falcons' practice facility before the teams play a preseason game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Friday night.

Falcons quarterback coach D.J. Williams wasn't happy to see Penix, the second-year quarterback entering his first full season as the starter, at the bottom of the pile. “Obviously, you don't want that,” Williams said.

Williams said it was revealing to see how Penix's teammates rose to his defense.

“I take the positive out of it,” Williams said. “Like you saw the guys take up for him. And I think that speaks to his leadership and who he is in that locker room. ... Obviously, he has the relationship and the trust of the guys because everybody ran to his defense. So I think that’s a good thing for the Falcons.”

Following the practice, Penix was still struggling to process the altercation.

“I don't know. I was somebody else,” Penix said.

Asked about being at the bottom of the pile, he said, “I don’t know where I was at in it. It was a lot of people in it. I know I was down there somewhere. I wasn’t the only one, though.”

Penix said he was appreciative “to see the team had my back and they were there to make sure they protect me. A lot of guys asked me if I was good.”

Morris said Penix will sit out the second straight preseason game. Backup Kirk Cousins also may be held out after the two split most of the snaps in team drills in the joint practices.

Titans coach Brian Callahan, who spoke before Wednesday's practice, said the same players who played in the team's 29-7 loss at Tampa Bay in last week's preseason opener likely will play against the Falcons. That list includes rookie starter Cam Ward, who played two series against the Buccaneers and was encouraged by the response to the team's disappointing Tuesday practice.

“Today's practice, we were a lot better,” Ward said.

Ward acknowledged his Wednesday practice wasn't perfect. He was picked off by Falcons safety Dee Alford after he was forced to scramble and then tried to throw the ball out of bounds.

“Just not putting enough on it,” Ward said.

Ward, the No. 1 overall pick in this year's NFL draft, said he already feels “I'd be fully prepared” to open the regular season this week.

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