Los Atlanta Falcons They have decided to trust the rookie Michael Penix Jr. as their starting quarterback and seat the veteran Kirk Cousins as they fight for their first playoff appearance since 2017. Coach Raheem Morris announced the decision in a statement Tuesday night.
“After a review, we have decided that Michael Penix Jr. will be the starting quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons from here on out,” Morris said. “This was a football decision and we are completely focused on preparing the team for Sunday’s game against the New York Giants.”
Los Falcons (7-7) snapped a four-game losing streak with an ugly 15-9 win Monday night at Las Vegas. Cousins He passed for 112 yards with a touchdown — his first touchdown pass in five games — and an interception. The 36-year-old veteran has thrown nine interceptions in the last five games and leads the NFL with 16 interceptions.
Atlanta signed to Cousins with a four-year, $180 million contract in the offseason, with $100 million guaranteed, before selecting Penix in position number 8 in the draft of the NFL.
Cousins broke his touchdown drought with a 30-yard pass to Drake London in the first quarter, but had few other notable plays against the Raiderswhich are in full crisis.
“It’s not where I want to be,” he said. Cousins about its performance. “There is a lot of room for improvement and we would like to finish much stronger in these last three weeks.”
Los Falcons They made the change about three hours after Morris told reporters that he wasn’t ready to make a decision on who would be this week’s starter.
“We talked about this last night,” he said. Morris. “It’s no secret. We don’t play well enough at the quarterback position, and we have to find ways to play better. So, all those things during the week and we have to do what is best to win against the Giants.”
The quarterback change comes as the Falcons They continue fighting for the title NFC On. Atlanta is one game behind Tampa Bayleader of the division, but the Falcons They have the advantage in tiebreakers.
Penix He has only played in two games, completing 3 of 5 passes for 38 yards. He was runner-up in the Trofeo Heisman in 2023, when he threw for 4,903 yards, 36 touchdowns and 11 interceptions with Washington.
Cousins had a good start to the season, leading the Falcons to a 6-3 start and first place in the division. He has completed 66.9% of his passes, exactly the same percentage he has maintained throughout his 13-year career. He has thrown for 3,508 yards, but has a dangerous ratio of 18 touchdown passes and 16 interceptions.
Morris acknowledged that it seems that the confidence of Cousins has been affected by its recent problems.
“I’m not trying to sugarcoat this for you,” he said. Morris. “He’s not trying to sugarcoat it for himself. … When you go through the stress that we’re going through now, you’re not going to have the same confidence and the same attitude that you had in the first two or three months of the season.”
Morris had consistently said the plan was for Cousins to handle the position this season as Penix prepared to take over at some point in the future. Although Morris was reluctant to deviate from that plan until Tuesday night, he said he saw no downside to choosing Penix as the starter.
The first-year coach praised the way Penix has handled his role as a backup. “You would never say there’s a downside to trusting someone you’ve invested a lot in, someone you brought here, someone you’ve done things with, someone who’s done nothing but the right thing since he’s been here,” Morris said.
Morris added that he was just being “really smart and cautious in how we do our jobs” by sticking with Cousins despite his recent struggles.
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