Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins said it was “stating the obvious” to say that he needed to play better after Monday night’s 15-9 win over the Raiders, so he probably wasn’t surprised to hear why head coach Raheem Morris was reaching out to talk to him on Tuesday.
Morris was calling to tell Cousins that Michael Penix Jr. will be taking over as the team’s starting quarterback and Cousins got his chance to talk about his reaction to the news on Wednesday.
“There’s a standard that I have for myself, that the team has for me,” Cousins said, via D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t playing up to that standard consistently enough and, so, it is what it is. You roll with it.”
Cousins said his turnovers — 16 interceptions and two lost fumbles — were to blame for falling short of the standard and he said he believes that “decision-making” is to blame rather than any lingering issues from last season’s torn Achilles. He also said that he “didn’t forget” how to play quarterback, but deferred any other questions about his future until the future.
