After a trip to the Strip did not instill confidence in their quarterback play, the Atlanta Falcons benched Kirk Cousins and named Michael Penix Jr. their starting QB “moving forward” late Tuesday night.
Pressed by reporters earlier in the day, head coach Raheem Morris initially insisted the staff still had to “go through all that process like we always do” without committing to a starter for Atlanta’s Week 16 game Sunday against the New York Giants.
Then the Falcons released a statement after 8:30 p.m. local time.
“After review we have made the decision Michael Penix Jr. will be the Atlanta Falcons’ starting quarterback moving forward,” the statement said. “This was a football decision, and we are fully focused on preparing the team for Sunday’s game against the New York Giants.”
Penix, 24, was a Heisman Trophy finalist last year at Washington, when he threw for 4,903 yards and 36 touchdowns to guide the Huskies to the national title game.
Atlanta selected him eighth overall in April’s draft shortly after Cousins signed a four-year, $180 million deal with the Falcons. Penix has taken 20 snaps this season over two games.
Atlanta (7-7) beat the Las Vegas Raiders 15-9 on Monday night despite a weak showing from Cousins. The veteran quarterback threw his first touchdown since Nov. 3 but was 11-for-17 for a season-low 112 yards, with one interception and three sacks.
In his previous four games, Cousins tossed eight picks without a touchdown over four straight losses. Monday’s win kept Atlanta’s playoff hopes alive, for now.
“There’s no secret. We didn’t play well at the quarterback position,” Morris said earlier Tuesday. “We got to find ways to play better. So, you know, all those things we go over the course of the week. We got to do whatever’s best to win against the Giants.”
Morris went as far as to say that there would not be a downside to playing Penix, even amid a playoff chase.
“You could never say there’s a (downside) to turn it over to somebody that you put a lot of investment into, somebody that you brought in here, somebody you’ve done some things with, somebody that (has) said nothing but the right things since they’ve been here,” Morris said of Penix.
After the Falcons’ narrow win, Cousins said it was no mystery that he needed to play better.
“Raheem says it, but it’s stating the obvious, and every week you kind of go through your process and you plan to go out there and play the very best you can,” Cousins said late Monday night. “And so, this week will be no different.”
Both 2-12, the Raiders and Giants are tied for the worst record in the NFL, and the Falcons catch them on back-to-back weeks with time running out on the season. They trail the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by one game in the NFC
South and the Washington Commanders by two games for the third and final wild-card spot in the conference.
On Monday, the NFL flexed the Falcons’ Dec. 29 visit to the Commanders into the Week 17 “Sunday Night Football” broadcast.
In injury news, Morris said kicker Younghoe Koo is dealing with an unspecified injury. Koo recently was listed on the injury report with a right hip ailment.
“We’ll kind of get a feel for what’s going on and everything that’s happening,” Morris said. “Get a better feel for him (Tuesday).”
Atlanta signed kicker Tanner Brown to the practice squad Sunday, the day before the Raiders game. Koo went 2-for-3 on field goals and made his only point-after try on Monday.
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