I just work here: Kyle Pitts’ response to Kirk Cousins benching says a lot

Kyle Pitts didn’t have a lot to say about the Atlanta Falcons benching Kirk Cousins. At the same time, what he did say, suggested a lot about the current state the Falcons are in. 

“I didn’t think it would have happened this early or now,” Pitts told Falcons reporters on Wednesday, via Kelly Price’s X platform account. “Also, I just work here. I’m not really tuned into those decisions.”

It’s sounds like there’s a disconnect on offense and this move, whether jarring or desperate, is raising more questions. For one, why now? Nearly a week after first-year coach Raheem Morris said the team wasn’t moving away from Cousins, they’ve decided to make the switch to Michael Penix Jr.

The team is still in a the playoff hunt and now seems like it’s too little, too late to make a quarterback switch. Cousins went through a stretch where he threw eight interceptions in four games and multiple of them were returned for touchdowns. 

The Falcons lost every game during that stretch too. And while, yes a change needed to be made, it just doesn’t make much sense to do it now. 

Is switching to Michael Penix Jr. the best option for the Atlanta Falcons playoff hopes?

Yes, something needed to change for the Falcons’ offense as they’ve gone from playoff lock to potentially missing the postseason in about a month. But how much of it is Cousins’ problem or a bigger problem on the offensive unit. 

Switching to Penix now just seems puzzling. Especially when switching to him early in the season before it was a dire need could have shown whether he can uplift this offense or not. 

For his first NFL start, Penix is in a tough predicament. If he miraculously leads the Falcons to the playoffs, he’s a savior. If the Falcons come up short and he doesn’t look particularly well, he’ll get ridiculed and probably called a bust. 

The Falcons are putting their rookie quarterback in a terrible position playing him now. They drafted him knowing Cousins was coming off a brutal injury and that he’s in the twilight years of his career. 

But this just doesn’t seem like the way you unveil your future quarterback. They could have made this decision weeks ago instead of putting him in an impossible situation.