Michael Penix Jr. is saying all the right things and he’s supposed to as a rookie looking to get his chance in the NFL. He wasn’t going to feed into any narrative about throwing him in the starting lineup for a struggling Kirk Cousins.
"He's a vet," Penix said of Cousins, per ESPN. "He's been in a lot of different situations, so I have no doubt that he's going to bounce back from this and he's going to be great this weekend and for the rest of the season."
Instead, he doubled down his support for Cousins, who’s thrown six interceptions and no touchdown passes over the last three games. In fact, his last touchdown pass was against the Dallas Cowboys.
Atlanta has 180 million reasons why to let Cousins weather this horrid stretch of football he’s on. And Raheem Morris and Penix both agree, Cousins will bounce back. But what if he doesn’t? The Falcons have lost three straight and what was a comfortable lead in the NFC South division race has now become a tight-knit battle.
So where do the Falcons go from here? If Cousins and the Falcons don’t start winning again soon, should they jump the gun on playing their future franchise cornerstone?
Michael Penix, Jr. is patiently waiting for his chance and not stirring up any drama amidst Falcons’ skid
Penix has thrown just five passes this season and completed three of them for 38 yards. Both of his appearances in his rookie season have been in the fourth quarter and in garbage time. So we haven’t really seen what Penix can do in the NFL just yet.
I respect the Falcons for standing by Cousins despite his rough stretch. But at what point do you start to look at a change at quarterback. Penix was taken top 10 in the last draft. That means they saw enough in him to play him at some point sooner rather than later.
And with him being older as well at 24 years old, how much longer are the Falcons willing to wait? If Cousins doesn’t start playing better soon, they may just have to bench him if they still view this as a playoff season.
That said, I agree pulling the plug on Cousins right now might not improve the situation. But it’s something Morris and the offense have to consider. Even if Penix isn’t going to outright say it.