Netflix’s season two of Quarterback was released yesterday, and unlike last season’s with Marcus Mariota, where Falcons fans never got any good drama, Kirk Cousins is feeding the fire.
The veteran revealed that he likely wouldn’t have signed with the Falcons had he known the team was going to draft a quarterback in the first round. He knew it was a possibility in Minnesota, but had he known the Falcons would draft Penix, he would’ve just stayed instead of uprooting his family.
On the one hand, the Falcons did Cousins wrong, at least that’s his perspective. In that same breath, this is a business, and the Falcons did what was best for them. Unfortunately, it came back to bite the team because Cousins felt, rightfully, that he didn’t owe the team anything. He did what was best for him when it came to his injury.
“The information I had at the time, I made the best decision. You also know that if you sit down Week 10 and take two or three weeks or more to let it heal, you may never get your job back. I remember reading Drew Brees’ book back in 2010 when he first wrote it, how he made the point that he tried to never let his backup see the field — even if it was somebody who was really no threat. He just felt like you should never do that. Doug Flutie taught him that,” Cousins said on Quarterback via Marc Raimondi.
I’ve been speculating this exact notion for months now, as I wrote The Falcons only have themselves to blame for the Kirk Cousins injury fiasco.
It was quite obvious that Cousins’ Achilles/ankle limited his mobility. It was evident that the hit he took in New Orleans limited his passing; the dip in velocity was clear.
The Falcons’ medical staff signed off on the Achilles before he signed a $180 million contract. That was a mistake. The coaching staff didn’t bench Cousins sooner after the injury he suffered during the Saints game in Week 10. That was a mistake.
None of that is Kirk Cousins’ fault. He didn’t owe the Falcons anything, especially after they drafted Michael Penix Jr. a few weeks after they inked him to a free agent contract. Both sides were perfectly in the right.
So, for Falcons fans to accost Cousins, they’re not looking at all of this objectively. The reality is that plenty of players try to play hurt and gut through injuries that force them to play at less than 100%. It is up to the training staff and head coach to make the determination about whether a player should play.
Kirk Cousins did what any 13-year veteran would do with his successor waiting in the wings. If you’re upset, you should be upset with the Falcons’ training staff, coaching staff, and front office for not making the decision to bench the veteran in favor of Michael Penix Jr. sooner.
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Photographer: Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire
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