Dolphins 20, Falcons 13
Q. How do you feel things went for you today in your action?
MICHAEL PENIX, JR.: I felt good. It felt good. It was fun to be able to be out there and compete with my brothers. Man, just having fun out there. You know, just going out there playing the game I've been playing since I was five years old. You know, so no nerves, no jitters. I was just ready to go.
Q. After the first hit --
MICHAEL PENIX, JR.: Down the left side.
Q. Yeah, did that -- I know you said you weren't nervous but was it like: I'm here, first hit?
MICHAEL PENIX, JR.: I got to feel the protection on that. So that's on me. But yeah, I was saying that before the game. I just want to get hit one time. Quarterbacks won't get hit till game time. So to be able to get hit, you know, get back up, just continue to keep playing the next drive, I knew that's what would happen.
But sometimes you go a whole year without getting. For me, it's only been a couple months, but it's been a while. It was good to be back out there.
Q. How would you evaluate your performance?
MICHAEL PENIX, JR.: I feel like I did okay. You know, some things that definitely want it get better. I feel like I executed the offense the best that I could, and I definitely -- I had one mistake, one mistake, the fans they wouldn't notice it but in our offense, I know it.
Other than that just trying to get points on the board. You know, whenever I was out there, I was able to get some point. He wanted to score every drive. We ended in a field goal. Not SURE how many times, but I wanted to score. But there's always room for improvement.
Q. What's that one mistake that's sticking with you?
MICHAEL PENIX, JR.: I looked the wrong way on a play, but I found the checkdown.
Q. Was there one moment where you realized, "Wow, I'm here"?
MICHAEL PENIX, JR.: I was ready. I've been ready to play for longest. I don't know. It's just football to me. You know, I've been playing it since I was five, like I said. So just go out there and do what you do.
Q. Did you notice that the speed of the game was different from practice?
MICHAEL PENIX, JR.: I always say the game is easier than practice. Game is always easier than practice. I don't know why. I think it's because of our defense see our looks so many times, it's hard to get completions against them.
But in-game, I feel like the routes we go out open and it's slower than practice. That was good.
Q. Does preseason mean more to you because you don't know necessarily how much you'll be playing in the regular season?
MICHAEL PENIX, JR.: Every game means a lot. We didn't come out with a win today. That's something that we wanted, and we're not proud of it. Obviously there's a lot of things that we've got on film, put on tape that are good and that we can take from. But it's a lot of things we can learn from, too.
We're a team, it don't matter preseason, playoffs, regular season; we want to win. We didn't get that done today but man I seen a lot of great things out of the guys around me and I feel like I did a lot of great things. But like I said, still some stuff to clean up.
Q. What did you see on the throw to Blair, the 41-yarder?
MICHAEL PENIX, JR.: Yeah, CB, I told him I'll give him a chance off the vertical route. He wanted off the release -- if he that open, I've got to be able to deliver a good ball so he can continue running. We connected like that.
Q. 16 passes went to Casey Washington.
MICHAEL PENIX, JR.: For real?
Q. Obviously didn't know that coming in. But can you speak to your relationship with him and how it's progressed through training camp?
MICHAEL PENIX, JR.: Man, he's a worker. He's a guy that want to work each and every day he come in, we built that trust. We built that trust through the off-season to get work even on the off days. He works extremely hard. Man, you should have seen his smile when he first touched the field. He was in his happy place. I ain't seen no smile that big. He was excited to be out there. Man, he made plays whenever the ball come his way. For me, I've got to find a way to get it to him.
Q. You got your first NFL game done, completed. Is there one takeaway, standout lesson that you learned from today that stood out amongst the rest?
MICHAEL PENIX, JR.: I don't know, it's just football. Like I said, it's just football. You know, going into it, you don't know what to expect, like, okay, first game. But you know me, I'm just like, it's football at the end of the day. Whenever I came out of it, I'm like, it's still just football. I haven't been live in a while but you know, took some hits. Probably only got hit twice. Offensive line did a good job holding up. Just football, man, just go play.
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