Michael Penix Jr. returned from a torn ACL in his left knee and sparked Atlanta's offense in a 35-14 road win over the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night at Lambeau Field. It was his first game since Nov. 16, 2025, and Atlanta's first win of the 2026 season.

Penix sat out the Falcons' first two games while finishing rehab from the November tear — the longest recovery of a career that has already included multiple season-ending knee injuries dating to college. Reuters reported he completed 18 of 25 passes for 256 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He settled after an interception on the opening series and directed scoring drives that flipped a stagnant attack: Atlanta had scored just 16 points total in losses to Pittsburgh and Carolina and had not reached an opponent's red zone through two weeks, per pregame FOX Sports/AP reporting.

Bijan Robinson ran for 194 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries, a yard shy of his career high. Drake London caught nine passes for a career-high 194 yards, including a 68-yard gain that set up a field goal. Reuters said the pair helped erase an early 7-0 deficit as Atlanta piled up 27 unanswered points before Green Bay answered late. The Falcons' first Lambeau win since 2008 also snapped the Packers' bid for a record 14th straight home-opener victory.

FOX Sports' postgame takeaways framed the result as settling Atlanta's quarterback picture after Cooper Rush and Jack Strand combined for five interceptions while filling in during Weeks 1–2. The same piece argued Penix should be the locked-in starter after the rebound, while casting Packers coach Matt LaFleur under renewed pressure after Green Bay fell to 1-2 with only 17 rushing yards. Reuters stayed closer to the box score and the return itself — Penix's efficiency, Robinson and London's yardage, and Jordan Love's 28-of-53, 312-yard night in a home loss. NFL.com's pregame return piece named Rush and Strand as the Weeks 1–2 fill-ins and put Atlanta at five interceptions league-wide over that stretch.

Sources published no new medical timeline beyond the confirmed return. FOX Sports notes Atlanta's next road stop is New Orleans; how the passing game travels after a short week of preparation is the live football question.

Penix was the No. 8 pick in 2024, sat out Weeks 1–2 until a clean Saturday workout left no residual pain, and then started Thursday at Lambeau. The confirmed story remains the debut and the 35-14 statement at Lambeau.