It’s never easy to bench an NFL quarterback, but it’s especially tough when that player has a $180 million contract. Nonetheless, the Atlanta Falcons decided to sit Kirk Cousins down and give rookie Michael Penix Jr. a chance to right the ship.
Cousins has been held to one touchdown pass over the last five games while throwing nine interceptions. Atlanta has lost four out of five games and the team nearly blew Monday night’s win over the Las Vegas Raiders, which appeared to be the final straw for Cousins.
The Falcons officially made the switch on Tuesday night and will start Penix for the final three weeks of the season.
“It was a tough decision but we all felt strongly one way about it,” said Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson in a press conference on Thursday.
Robinson praised Cousins for his contributions over the first 14 weeks but indicated the quarterback’s turnovers were the deciding factor.
“Obviously, Kirk has done a lot of great things here,” said Robinson. “He’s got us to this position. We’re sitting at 7-7 because of Kirk and he’s played a lot of good football. He’d be the first to tell you the turnovers over the past handful of weeks have been tough. There’s things that have been a little bit out of his character for what he’s shown in his career and just felt like at this time, Mike gave us the best chance to win going forward.”
Robinson said the playbook would not be restricted for the rookie’s first start and that Penix’s skill set can add some things to Atlanta’s offense.
“Mike’s got some different skill sets that you can activate as well,” said Robinson. “Whatever he’s done at Washington and what we’ve seen out on the practice field, how it fits within our offense, we’ll definitely activate that this week.”
The Falcons host the New York Giants this weekend at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Check out the team’s updated depth chart and injury report for Week 16.