FLOWERY BRANCH – The Atlanta Falcons are laying the groundwork for their 2026 season during the final phase of the offseason, both literally and figuratively. Footwork. It’s the foundation for the quarterback that will either quickly set him up for success or failure. Establishing the feet has been a point of emphasis for Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski and quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt. For Michael Penix Jr., the added emphasis has already been felt. “I would say just like you said, the amount of time put into it,” Penix said Tuesday amid mandatory minicamp. “It's always something that's getting pointed out in routes on there. If you're off time, they’re [the coaches] letting you know, ‘hey, you’ve got to quicken up your feet’ or, ‘take your time a little bit on this drop. You have to work through your progression.’ “I feel like this is something that is talked about more than it was.”His statement did not come off as a veiled shot at former head coach Raheem Morris and offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, but rather a major point of emphasis for this new regime. A lot of that work, Penix said, is about “reinforcing” what they already know and do, and the quarterbacks have spent extended time going over seemingly little things like this. When asked about it, Stefanski highlighted that he and his staff are disciples of Bill Walsh in the way they play from the ground up, citing his time under Gary Kubiak. Quarterbacks, Stefanski says, have to listen to their feet. “Our feet are our clock. You don't have a stopwatch back there when you play quarterback, but you do have your feet,” Stefanski said. “So a five-step drop in a hitch is timing, so if the ball has to come out on five-plant – because it's this many steps by the receiver – that's the precision that's required in the passing game. If it's a seven-step drop in the hitch, that's the precision based on the depth of the route of the receivers. “There's so much that goes into the precision passing game, but it starts with timing, and timing only comes from the footwork of the quarterback.” And this team has a teacher in Van Pelt who uses his vast catalog of 'teach-tape' spanning generations of quarterbacks, specifically using install tape from the Walsh era and from his time under Paul Hackett at the University of Pittsburgh. “It holds up, you know, football's football,” Stefanski said, “and getting to see some of the great ones do the same drills that we're doing… It's a good message to our guys.” Sign up for our free Atlanta Falcons newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news!Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow