Falcons Jake Matthews Confident In Kaleb McGary And His ‘Ogre Mentality’ To Protect Penix Jr. originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

Yes, you read that correctly. “Ogre Mentality” is a thing, and Falcons veteran Jake Matthews has complete confidence in Kaleb McGary to use it to protect Michael Penix Jr’s blind side.

With Falcon quarterback Michael Penix Jr. being a left-handed quarterback, right tackle Kaleb McGary will now be tasked with protecting his blind side. After Falcons training camp on day two, offensive lineman Jake Matthews spoke to the media and joked that McGary brings a different mentality, an “ogre mentality.”

When Matthews was asked to elaborate a bit on what they meant he would say, “Just ogre as in big and strong.” Matthews would also praise the way McGary was able to move around with his size and say that he was one of the more physically impressive players he had ever been around.

Matthews would also say, “I think he’s a special player, and you know, just respect him, going into seven years with him, and I really think he’s just really improved a lot, and I’m expecting him to be solid and one of the staple guys on this offensive line.”

Matthews has complete confidence in McGary’s ability to protect the blindside of Penix Jr., stating, “When you do the fundamentals well and do your job well, you don’t really think about that stuff,” Matthews said. “You’re keeping space between yourself and the quarterback. You’re using your hands well and stopping penetration basically. It doesn’t matter if they’re right-handed or left-handed at that point; they’re away from the quarterback, (and) you’re doing a good job.”   

McGary would give up 13 sacks during his rookie season. In the five years since then, he has never had another double-digit season of sacks given up.

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 27, 2025, where it first appeared.