Kirk Cousins’ struggles are nearing a boiling level because the Falcons squeaked previous the lowly Raiders on “Monday Night Football.”
Cousins, 36, regarded like a shell of his gunslinging self, going 11 for 17 for simply 112 yards with one landing and an interception within the 15-9 victory, with head coach Raheem Morris calling out the veteran after the sport.
“He’s got to play better and obviously, you got to go back, you got to get to look at everything,” the Falcons’ first-year head coach informed reporters. “But he wants to play better. He’s got to play better. We’ve got to find a way to get him to play better.”w
Cousins has thrown seven interceptions in his final three video games, the second most within the NFL behind solely Jameis Winston (eight), who the Browns benched on Sunday.
Regardless of the scathing evaluation of his present beginning quarterback, Morris stopped wanting saying Cousins was at risk of dropping his job to rookie Michael Penix Jr., whom Atlanta stunningly chosen eighth total out of Washington on this 12 months’s NFL draft.
When requested whether or not Penix could be thought-about to begin Week 16 in opposition to the Giants, Morris provided a cryptic response.
“We’ve got everybody on our roster for a reason, we’ve got so much to get better at,” Morris mentioned. “Those things will always be discussed, that’s the nature of the beast in football. Our mentality is to find a way to win the next game.”
Cousins has the sixth-worst quarterback score within the NFL since Week 8 and leads the NFL in interceptions thrown.
Cousins is within the first 12 months of a four-year, $180 million contract that features a $100 million assure.
He agreed with Morris’ feedback after Monday’s sport.
“I think the last few weeks I would say I need to play better,” Cousins mentioned. “Raheem says it, but it’s stating the obvious, and every week you kind of go through your process and you plan to go out there and play the very best you can. And so, this week will be no different.”
The choice to bench Cousins is difficult as they’d be throwing Penix proper right into a playoff race as they’re one sport behind the Buccaneers within the NFC South and personal the tiebreaker.
In concept, Atlanta might rid itself of the again half of that deal after 12 months two, due to the construction of the deal.
NFL Community’s Ian Rapoport beforehand reported that Falcons brass believed Cousins would bounce again from the poor performances, however that endurance seems to be working skinny if you happen to go by Morris’ most up-to-date feedback.
“They do believe he will bounce back, they believe he’ll be resilient,” Rapoport mentioned of the Falcons and Cousins. “They want to rally around Cousins.”
Atlanta entered the 2024 season with Tremendous Bowl aspirations after bringing in Cousins, however he hasn’t regarded the identical since coming back from a torn Achilles he suffered final 12 months whereas with the Vikings.
