BroBible
Second-year Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix isn’t exactly having a great start to his first full season as the team’s starter. But things could be way worse, according to head coach Raheem Morris.
For example, Penix could be so bad that the team needs to bench him, much like the current backup, Kirk Cousins. Morris, in defense of Penix, lobbed a hilariously unnecessary shot at Cousins during a press conference on Tuesday.
HC Morris on Michael Penix remaining the starting QB:
“Kirk lost his job last year. We’re not even close to that with Mike. He had a bad game.”
— Underdog NFL (@UnderdogNFL) September 24, 2025
Asked whether Penix could lose his job to Cousins, whom he backed up for much of the season a year ago, Morris said “Kirk lost his job last year. We’re not even close to that with Mike. He had a bad day. We had a bad day. Mike is our quarterback. We got a lot of confidence in Mike. We’re moving forward with Mike. Mike’s the guy.”
That feels…harsh.
On one hand, it’s good for Morris to show faith in his young quarterback. Penix, as much as anything, needs confidence, and a lot of that can come from the head coach.
But did Morris really need to take a shot at Cousins’ play in order to emphasize that? Additionally, Penix has been as bad as Cousins, if not worse, through three weeks.
In 14 starts last year, Cousins completed 66.9 percent of his passes for 3,508 yards, 18 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. Atlanta went 7-7 in those starts. Not great, but also not terrible!
Through three games this season, Penix has completed just 58.6 percent of his passes for 506 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. That projects out to just 2,361 yards, five touchdowns, and nine interceptions over a 14-game sample size. That’s far worse than Cousins’ numbers!
So not only did Morris just throw his veteran backup quarterback under the bus, he also did so under entirely false pretenses. Perhaps that’s why Morris is just 30-48 in his career as a head coach?
The post Atlanta Falcons Coach Raheem Morris Takes Wildly Unnecessary Shot At Kirk Cousins To Defend Michael Penix’s Poor Play appeared first on BroBible.
