Michael Penix Jr Shows Off His Elite Evasiveness By Immediately Hitting The "Pause" Button After Talking About Opening Back Ends
Situational awareness is one of those attributes that truly separates the elite quarterbacks from the rest of the pack. You can have all the physical talent in the world, but the ability to know the situation at all times and out-think your opponent? That's how you go from good to great. And we are watching that happen in real time right now with Michael Penix Jr.
Michael Penix Jr came back last night and proved that he might just have what it takes to be a quality starting quarterback in the NFL. 18-for-25, 256 yards, a touchdown, and a big time win on the road against the Packers. But there are still plenty of doubters out there who are going to have Michael Penix on bust watch (pause) due to his inconsistency of production over the last few years. He knews that he can't give those doubters any additional ammo. The last thing a starting quarterback wants to do in this league is get meme'd to death. It happened to JJ McCarthy and look at where he is now.
"Opened up the back end" would be a phrase that sticks with Michael Penix Jr for the rest of his career if he starts to suck. The haters would throw it out there after every poor performance. But Michael Penix Jr knows the situation. He's aware that he can't say anything even remotely homoerotic in an interview. So he throws a "pause" in there so quickly that you'd never be able to separate it from the soundbite.
That's what an elite quarterback does. Maybe they get themselves into a jam, but they immediately know how to get themselves out of it. Caleb Williams would never.