Penix's Rehab is 'On Schedule if Not a Little Ahead'

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

Indiana quarterback Michael Penix spoke to the media on Monday afternoon for the first time since tearing his ACL against Maryland in late November. All of Hoosier Nation has been waiting anxiously to hear how the All-Big Ten quarterback’s recovery is going. Penix provided some answers on Monday..

“Right now, I am on schedule, if not a little bit ahead of schedule.” Penix said. The Hoosiers are coming off a season where they went 6-2 and finished ranked 12th in the AP poll. Prior to his injury, Penix threw for 1,645 yards and 14 touchdowns in six games.

“I have been working extremely hard to get back.” Penix continued. “I am doing everything I can to go out and just continue to help motivate the team, be a leader, even though I cannot do certain activities. But I have been doing really well, progressing every week, and I feel myself getting a lot stronger and feeling more comfortable with my body.”

Penix has already dealt with a torn ACL in 2018 and while it may be tough for some to remain upbeat, Penix has relied on his support system to pick himself back up.

“At the beginning, I was kind of down, but just getting help from my family, friends and teammates, they kept me up, kept me positive.” Penix explained. “This is something I do not wish on anybody and nobody wishes they were in this position, but having them on my side, pushing me every single day, telling me to stay motivated and to continue to chase my dream, that was really helpful. That was something that really helped me get through it and I feel like I am still trying to stay positive. Right now, where I am at now, I am very positive. I love where I am at now, and I like the growth that I have had since the injury.”

There will be some bad days during rehab and Penix describes them as “some days that you really don't feel good. Maybe I'm gonna be stiff some days, but I'll just make sure that (I’m) getting a training room, early before so like coming in on my bad day, but as the day goes on it gets better because of the amazing work our training staff do for all of them not just me but all everybody does that's in there they help us a lot so as far as the bad days just maybe just some soreness maybe sometimes but it doesn't affect anything.”

While the expectation is for Penix to be ready when the Hoosiers face Iowa at Kinnick Stadium on September 4th, he is not yet running or doing on field activities.

“Right now I'm just, I'm sticking with the program just more rehab stuff right now. “ Penix told reporters on the Zoom call. “The on the field stuff will come later. I'm not really worried about that right now. I just want to make sure I stay focused and doing whatever the chain is telling me. I'm just make sure to stay healthy especially outside of the facility know it, like, one of you guys said no with the snowfall. It's a lot of ice and I know just make sure that I'm taking the same precautions when I walk you know just make sure that I don't have no setbacks that's the main thing right now just make sure that we don't have no setbacks and just continue to keep moving forward, and I know for sure that I'll be ready come game day.”

Penix has yet to play a full season since coming to Bloomington, but the Hoosiers need the strong armed quarterback to continue making noise in the rough and tumble Big Ten East. The Hoosiers open spring practice March 9th and are scheduled to open the season at Iowa on September 4th.