The Atlanta Falcons will not bench Kirk Cousins in favor of rookie Michael Penix Jr., head coach Raheem Morris announced Monday after the team suffered its fourth straight loss. Cousins is mired in a slump over his last four games.
Cousins has completed 63.1% of his passes for 762 yards with zero touchdowns to seven interceptions -- including two picks in Sunday's defeat to the Minnesota Vikings -- for a 57.2 passer rating (31st in the NFL) during Atlanta's four-game skid which has seen it go from three games above .500 to out of the NFC South lead.
Speculation arose about an upheaval at quarterback that would send Cousins to the bench and elevate first-round rookie Michael Penix Jr. into the limelight. The Athletic reported last week there were no internal discussions are happening about making a possible switch at quarterback.
Morris made it clear to reporters after the Week 14 loss, saying the team has no intention of benching Cousins.
"Kirk Cousins is our quarterback," Morris said Sunday, via a team transcript. "We'll have the ability to go watch this tape like we do every single week. Kirk played significantly better than he did the week before. We have a chance to go out there and focus on us and get a chance to go out there and really work on what we do and what we do well, and we'll do whatever is best to go win football games, and Kirk is definitely a part of that."
| Cousins | First nine games | Last three games |
|---|---|---|
W-L | 6-3 | 0-4 |
Completion % | 69% | 63% |
TD-INT | 17-7 | 0-7 |
Passer rating | 101.9 | 57.2 |
Cousins has also benefited from beating up on bad opponents this season. He is 5-1 against teams either .500 or below and 1-6 against above .500 clubs.
This offseason, the 36-year-old signed a four-year, $180 million deal with Atlanta. While he was looked to be the starter going forward, the Falcons did shock the league when they selected Penix with the No. 8 overall pick.
Given that investment, the team will, at some point, want to see what they have in Penix, but even amid these struggles from Cousins, Morris suggests we're still a ways away from that happening.
