Written by Matt Smith

Last season ended on a sour note for breakout quarterback Michael Penix Jr, as he went down with a torn ACL late in November and was out the rest of the season. Many people doubted that he would be back week one this year after a second torn ACL, but when Penix met with the media on Friday afternoon he announced he will be back week one at Iowa.

“I’m feeling really good, and by September fourth I’ll be ready and I’m excited to get out there with the guys,” Penix said at his Big Ten Media days press conference.

Indiana is a couple weeks away from training camp, Penix says that he will be doing everything except live drills during fall camp. Penix will also be monitored very closely at fall camp as well.

“We have a great group of trainers... that will monitor that situation,” Penix said. “So, if something don’t feel right, that’s on me. Obviously I’ve got to be smart, but I also want to get that chemistry with the guys, so, I’ve been working extremely hard to get to where I need to be.”

Penix’s injury history has been something that the media has knocked him for ever since he was given the starting role at Indiana because he has had two season ending injuries in the past two seasons.

“I won’t say I get tired when asked about it, it’s the game of football, things happen, I just got to stay positive, whenever you guys ask me these questions, I still stay positive,” Penix said.

Aside from recovering from his injury this off-season, Penix has worked out with some professional quarterbacks as well. He was seen on his Instagram training with New Orleans Saints quarterback and former Heisman trophy winner Jameis Winston. Last week, he also attended the Manning Passing Academy.

When asked about what he learned from Peyton and Eli Manning, Penix said that he needed to “Control the Controllables,” which was a phrase he used a lot throughout his press conference.

With an injury that has kept Penix off the field during spring and summer ball, it can be tough to find ways to create chemistry with your receivers. However, Penis has been spending as much time in the film room or outside of football with them. In addition, Penix has a new receiver to throw the ball to in transfer D.J Matthews.

“(Matthews) brings explosiveness, he’s very explosive. He’s a great receiver and he has great hands. He’s been really good for us, he’s a guy that focuses on a lot of details,” Penix said.

Coming into the 2021 football season, Penix has a lot of hype to his name with multiple pre-season honors such as being named preseason All Big-Ten and the Davey O’Brien award watch list.

When asked about all the accolades he’s been awarded, Penix said “individual awards don’t mean anything.”

With the injury history that Penix had, many wonder if he’ll be comfortable tucking and running the ball from time to time.

“I’ll be 100% September 4th...I’m not going to get rattled, I’m there for one thing and that’s to win.” Penix said.

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Michael Penix Jr. Says He Will be 100-Percent for the Opener Against Iowa

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